Irony
by just delete this account
Summary: "What?" he said after a long moment of silence. "I'm a vampire" Edward replied easily. Alfons blinked, he knew that some people joked about it but still... "And if you mention anything about sparkling I will shove an apple down your throat!" Edward added.
1. Chapter 1

Hello there! Welcome to my first attempt at satire ^^ I'm not gonna lie, I like the Twilight series even though I find A LOT of faults with it (That's why I wrote this in the first place) Within all of it's bad grammar, horrible attempts at portraying romance and mary-sue characters, there are little things that are entertaining and interesting, however over-all it totally didn't deserve it's place in the booklists DX. Anyway, I was just pondering on the two similarities between Edward Elric and Edward Cullen one day (The name and the golden irises) and I imagined how Ed would react if someone mentioned it to him. From my little daydream of Ed beating some poor twilight fan within an inch of his life, the idea for this fic was born. The question just came to my mind, how much worse would Ed be pissed off if he was a vampire as well (A REAL one, not one that sparkles and is so pretty he's gay XD) and this is what came as a result of that question.

Vampire Ed is not happy at all about the disgrace bought upon his kind XDD.

One last thing before I let you go,(or if you're still reading this XD, which I hope you are) this would not be just a parody of twilight, I've incorporated my own little twists to the plot to make it an actual story, and to make it mine ^^. This is romance/humor right now but eventually it'd shift to romance/thriller/drama. Hmm, what else, what else…Oh, I'm going with the Brotherhood character designs which means Ed-kun is not (that) short :D and his hair and eyes are lighter. Hmm…I think that's it….Ok, enjoy!

* * *

Blue eyes blinked open and their owner let out a small sigh before stretching his arms out in front of him as much as the cramped space in the economy class cabin allowed. He arched his back slightly, trying to get rid of any kinks he might've acquired while sleeping in a sitting position. Then, careful not to disturb the middle aged woman sleeping in the seat next to his, he stretched his arms upward before bringing one hand down to scratch at slightly mussed blond hair.

Once he was fully awake, Alfons Heiderich leaned back in his seat and wondered to himself how long he slept. Not long most probably. Just around 10 minutes, 12 at the max. He usually dreamt whenever he slept for the healthy, 8-9 hours that people his age need. He was pretty sure there was nothing but peaceful blankness beneath his lids when he slept this time. Oh well, he wasn't complaining. He hadn't had a pleasant dream in a long time, not since he found out that the cancer couldn't be controlled anymore, heck not since he found out he _had_ cancer. Thinking about that now caused him to remember why he was even on a plane right now, headed to the nice little peaceful town of Stratford, Ontario.

Turning to the side, he pushed open the small window, squinting slightly as bright sunlight slipped through the small crack he made. He smiled to himself at the difference, many hours ago when he left Munich, the skies were dull and gray.

His god father; Alex Armstrong hadn't been too happy with his decision to go back to live with his grandpa in Stratford but under the current circumstance, he didn't protest and just supported the young blond, even going so far as buying his plane ticket, a few brand new suitcases, a laptop so they could keep in touch and a ton of brand new clothes.(Those weren't as much Uncle Alex's fault as it was his sister Catherine's but still). He had generously scolded his uncle for spending so much money on him even when they both knew that in a very short time all that money would be considered wasted. He knew Uncle Alex and his entire family had enough money to provide substantially for 20 people from birth to death but still, he didn't like it when people spent their money for him.

But then, uncle Alex told him that if he wasn't going to get to be around to be there when Alfons- and then he burst out crying and not in the usual way he does when he's all sparkly and "overcome" with emotion, he cried for real and he cried out of sadness. After almost half an hour of feeling guilty and trying to comfort his uncle, said uncle looked at him and whilst wiping at a few fresh tears with his sleeve, he said. "If uncle Alex isn't going to be there for his beautiful god child, then at least let Uncle Alex make sure that the rest…that your time in Stratford is as nice as it could be." He was unable to answer after that and even if he did, he was pretty sure he wouldn't have been able to say it.

He frowned a bit as he thought of uncle Alex now. Was he ok? Did it rain after his plane left? Did he get soaked? Not for the first time, guilt made itself known in his chest. He owed uncle Alex so much, ever since his parents died both he and Alfons' grandpa stepped up and provided everything they could to make sure he still grew up perfectly healthy and happy but when his grandpa suffered from a heart attack and narrowly escaped permanent damage and was proven unable to take care of a 6 year old Alfons by himself, it was uncle Alex who took Alfons in and provided him with a home and education. He knew that uncle Alex loved him and yet he was denying the man what little time there is left to be with him.

Alfons shook his head to clear it of his negative thoughts, he already made the decision. Besides, he and Uncle Alex both agreed that even though uncle Alex deserved to be there for Alfons during all the time he had left, his grand father deserved it twice as much as he did. Like uncle Alex himself had said; "I've at least had a few years with you. How many had he spent? I watched you grow up, he didn't, even when he wanted to. He deserves at least this much. "

Carefully, he opened the window farther, squinting slightly at the sudden brightness but smiling at the fluffy clouds and the clear blue sky that greeted him. The PA system came on then and he half listened as the captain informed them that they'd be landing in a few minutes. His smile grew wider as he imagined what his grandpa and his old house looked like now. Did they change that much? Did they change at all? Well, either way, he'd enjoy being in Stratford for as long as he had left.

About an hour later, Alfons found himself gazing quietly out the window of his grandpa's navy blue Volkswagen as the two of them drove home. As expected, his grandpa was there, holding a small card with his last name on it when he got off the plane and though his hair had receded even more and he had gained more wrinkles, Alfons thought he would've been able to recognize him even if he hadn't been holding up the card. After hugs and greetings were exchanged, the two of them headed off to get Alfons' bags. Alfons was surprised that his grandpa was able to carry two suitcases all by himself without much difficulty and eventually let it go when he protested that he could carry at least one and his grandpa just brushed him off.

"Really Alfons, don't make me feel any older than I already am." he had said jokingly.

"Wow, you sure grew up to be a handsome young man hmm?"

Alfons looked up to find his grandpa looking at him through the rearview mirror. He laughed sheepishly and shrugged. Personally he didn't think much of his looks but he didn't deny that he had them either, he knew what he looked like and though he didn't particularly like receiving stares and compliments, he was used to getting them by now.

"Even more handsome than your Dad...and your Granddad"

His grandpa pointed out with a teasing smile, eyes glinting behind his round glasses. Alfons smiled.

"Aww, I wouldn't say that. I know you're still popular with the ladies grandpa Grumman. More popular than I am, I'm sure." he said with a light chuckle. Grandpa Grumman laughed with him and shook his head. "Yes, I suppose you're right. But seriously though, you look even more handsome than your father even though you look practically the same. Your mother would've loved to see you now. And she would've said the same too. She always loved how you seemed to be a carbon copy of your old man."

"Yeah…" Alfons murmured.

"Everything's the same. Except your eyes."

Yes, the only things he inherited from the Grumman side of the family, his mother's wide, sky blue eyes, complete with wispy, lengthy blonde eyelashes. He didn't really see why but for some reason his eyes attracted more attention than any other feature he had. He had heard whispers of girls practically swooning over them and even received plenty of love letters alluding to his " Beautiful Baby Blues" much to his discomfort.

As if somehow affected by his thoughts, his grandpa exclaimed. "All the girls are gonna be fighting each other like Lions over you."

Alfons blushed. Oh believe him, he knew, it's happened before and really, Germany or Canada he's pretty sure scary stalker girls existed everywhere.

"I might have to fight them off with a stick." his grandpa continued.

Alfons chuckled awkwardly. It would have been funny if it weren't actually possible "Don't worry grandpa, I'm not really looking for a girl right now." he said.

He wasn't the type to go chasing girls. _Ever._

And not just because he didn't _have_ ever either.

But grandpa Grumman doesn't need to know that. He already suffered from a heart attack once, Alfons doesn't want it to happen again.

The old man turned his head to look at him and opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself before he could. However, Alfons had a feeling that he knew what his grandpa was thinking and what he was about to say.

"Oh well, you are at that age where you need your freedom after all. I suppose an old man like myself shouldn't be trying to tell you what to do with your life."

or what's left of it.

They both knew the words were tacked to that sentence but they ignored it. Well, even if Alfons _was_ attracted to girls, there was no point in having a relationship now. What would happen to the girl when he- scratch that, would anyone even want to have a relationship with him if they knew he only had a few months to live? And besides even if someone did and they were serious about him, he didn't think he'd have the heart to stay with them knowing that they would most probably be devastated when the time comes. He understood why his grandpa would want him to find someone, because if not now then _never_. But still, it was too late for that besides he didn't really care. Unlike most teenagers, getting a partner to parade around as the object of your romantic interests wasn't the most important thing in the world to him.

The rest of the ride home was mostly quiet, the silence only disrupted a few times by casual conversation about trivial topics. Eventually they made it to the old two storey duplex house that his entire family inhabited years ago. He sighed nostalgically as he stepped out of the car to gaze up at it. The left half belonged to his grandpa and he and his parents used to live on the right half. From the outside it almost looked like nothing changed, the waist high black wrought iron fence was still as shiny and straight as ever and the identical aqua blue doors of the two residences were still as bright against the light pastel colors of the slate gray walls, charcoal gray roof and cream colored window frames. The only differences were that now on the right side of the front lawn, in front of his old home, baby toys seemed to be scattered on the ground along with one of those plastic play ground sets meant for toddlers and on the left side there now was a single oak tree with what really looked to be the old tire swing he used to play in when he was little.

"You moved- I mean you kept my old tire swing?" Alfons asked as gradpa Grumman walked around the car to stand next to him.

"Well yes, my new great grand daughter isn't big enough to play in it and you really seemed to be fond of it. I couldn't find it in me to get rid of it, so I just moved it to my lawn."

A wistful look came to his face then and Alfons felt a pang of guilt as he remembered that grandpa Grumman always used to come out and sit on his porch steps every time he played, to watch him with a smile on his face as he laughed and swung on the large rubber tire. He'd always be the first one to help every time he fell and in the summer he always came out with drinks and sandwiches in case Alfons got hungry. He wondered how he must've felt every time he looked at that swing after Alfons got shipped off to live in Germany with uncle Alex because grandpa Grumman couldn't take care of him.

He was about to thank him when something else caught his attention.

"Wait, great grand daughter?"

Grandpa Grumman turned to him with a surprised look, as if he had just remember something.

"Oh yes, remember your cousin Riza?"

Alfons nodded. She lived the closest to them when he was younger, he didn't see her often because she was already in high school when he was still in kindergarten.

"Yes well, after the heart attack, she and her husband decided to move to your old house to keep an eye on me. They had their baby 8 months ago. You're an uncle now." Alfons' eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Surprise! Oh and one more thing, Riza and her husband both teach at the school you'll be going to so you'll be seeing them around a lot."

"Really?" Alfons asked as he and his grandpa moved to take out his bags from the car.

"Yup. Riza is a gym teacher, Roy teaches chemistry. They would've been here today to welcome you but they had to take little Katrina to her monthly check up with her pediatrician."

They managed to take up all of Alfons' bags in three trips and once Alfons was settled in the room down the hall from grandpa Grumman's, Alfons took the time to really look at the house where he'll be living in. It was well proportioned, not big but not too small either. In the spotless kitchen there was an oval glass table big enough for 4 people and adjacent to the kitchen, a small living room was located with two adjoining plump, charcoal gray couches placed in front of a TV. A small mahogany coffee table that matched the russet-burgundy carpet was placed between the TV and the couches and next to the TV on either side, two tall, narrow antique glass cabinets stood, housing only some of grandpa Grumman's random collection of toys, trinkets and other rare pieces he got from all over the world. The rest of it were crammed into shelves and more cabinets in the basement, along with a nice, flat screen TV, DVD and home theater surround system. Grandpa Grumman used to serve in the military and was always sure to get soveneirs from all the places he went to, it surprised Alfons that he managed to acquire this many and he managed to fit all of them in this house. He was pretty sure that grandpa Grumman's room must be crammed, floor to ceiling with his collections, not that he needed to check. He was absolutely sure that his new room had been used as a former storage room for the rest of grandpa Grumman's collection, but it was cleaned up so nicely, he wouldn't have been able to tell if he didn't know. The carpeting in his room was freshly done, maybe a week or two before his arrival and the carpet was different from the russet one in the living room, the carpeting in his room was a light, plain cream color that matched the plain beige walls and the simple bed. There was a desk under the window next to a tall floor lamp and opposite the desk was his bed. In the corner, there was a little walk in closet where he stuffed his bags in to unpack later after he helped with and ate lunch with grandpa Grumman.

He still had an hour before grandpa Grumman said he usually made lunch and he used that time to take a shower. He had just changed into some new clothes(after digging through the piles of clothes uncle Alex had pretty much forced him to bring) when the chest pains struck. They're not really painful, just a dull ache, however they were persistent and unless he took his pills, they could go on for hours. All of his pills were in his carry on bag, which he was pretty sure he left somewhere downstairs. His eyes passed along the pictures along the wall as he went down the stairs, feeling nostalgic about the ones he had seen before and curious of the ones he hadn't, particularly the ones with his cousin Riza and who he assumed must be her new family. He was looking at a picture of Riza with the dark haired man that he assumed was her husband when he called out, so he had no idea that there were other people there in the house aside from him and his grandpa.

"Grandpa, have you seen my-"

He stopped midsentence as he came into the living room. There on the couch sat grandpa Grumman next to a blonde woman with a dark haired baby sitting on her lap. They both smiled at him as he walked into the living room and it was then that he recognized the blonde woman to be his older cousin Riza.

"Oh hi there Alfons, look who's here. Riza just got home and she came over to invite us for dinner."

Grandpa Grumman said, gesturing to her. Alfons smiled at her shyly and greeted her with a soft "Hello." Her kind smile didn't leave her face as she looked him up and down. "Hi. Wow, look at you, you sure have gotten bigger." Alfons chuckled lightly and opened his mouth to reply when all of a sudden the baby on Riza's lap piped up with a rather loud coo, her large brown eyes focused on Alfons. All of the grown ups turned their heads to the baby and chuckled.

"Oops, how can we forget? Alfons this is your niece, Katrina."

Katrina looked like a baby version of Riza except she had thick, shiny raven hair tied up into two pig tails. Her cheeks were just like any other baby's, pink and round and her large chocolate brown eyes appraised him with child like curiosity. She raised one hand in his direction and crooned and Alfons couldn't help but smile as he moved forward til he was standing in front of her. Contrary to popular belief, there are guys out there who aren't immune to the charm of babies, him included.

"Hi Katrina."

He greeted as he crouched down to her level. Katrina stared at him for a second or two before smiling shyly and hiding her face in her mother's shirt. Once again the adults all chuckled at her actions. Riza stroked her daughter's hair and smiled at Alfons. "She always pretends to be shy around strangers. You'll see in a few days, she'll be doing everything in her power to get your attention." she said jokingly.

"You were looking for something Alfons?" Grandpa Grumman asked.

"Oh yeah, do you know where I put my carry on bag? It's a green messenger bag with a black strap, all my pills are in it."

"Umm, I think it's on the kitchen table."

"Oh, thanks."

He got up to go get it. "Oh and Alfons, while you're there could you get Riza something to drink?" his grandpa called out. "Sure. What would you like?" he asked Riza with a smile.

"Oh no, that's ok. I was just about to leave." Riza said gathering Katrina into her arms and standing up.

"Me and Roy went grocery shopping before we went home, I just left him to unload the groceries alone while I went here to check up on you. I better go see if he put away the groceries properly."

Grandpa Grumman stood up and handed her her purse and Alfons followed as the three of them walked towards the front door.

"We'll see you two at dinner ok?" Riza said just before she stepped out.

"We'll be there lieutenant." Grandpa Grumman said with a salute. Riza smiled "You better be Lieutenant General, sir."

When she left, grandpa Grumman turned to him with an impish grin. "She was in the army for 3 years." he explained.

* * *

Dinner with the Mustangs was a pleasant affair. Roy Mustang, Riza's husband was a nice man, tall and handsome with an average build and blue eyes so deep they almost looked black from a distance. He had an aura of charm about him, the kind that made you think he could get any lady to do him favors and any person to see things his way. Apparently he used to teach gym too just like Riza but after one of the few chemistry teachers left the school (Roy said it was because some loud mouthed punk-ass student humiliated the teacher into resigning but Alfons forgot his name) Roy, having chemistry as his second teachable, got transferred into the science department.

The subject of why Alfons chose to come back to Stratford to finish his last year of high school was dutifully avoided and everyone made him feel nice and welcome.

"So, Alfons are you looking forward to going back to highschool on Wednesday?"

Roy asked him after dinner as he, Alfons and Katrina sat in the living room while grandpa Grumman and Riza cleared the table. Katrina was on the floor playing with a few wooden blocks and both Alfons and Roy watched her intently as they talked. Aside from her baby charm, there was just some sort of irresistible charisma to Katrina, if he'd noticed earlier, Alfons would've chalked it up to her merely being a considerably well-behaved and happy baby but after meeting Roy, he knew it was most probably an inherited trait. He had only met the man an hour ago and already he was feeling at ease sitting next to him and having a casual conversation like they've been friends for some time now.

"I'm a little nervous but yeah, I am."

Roy chuckled. "Yeah, I was a bit intimidated by all the art geeks when I first came there too but don't worry, there are enough good old math and science geeks to keep the rest of the population sane."

Alfons laughed. "That's good, hopefully I'd find a niche with them."

"Oh? What courses are you taking?" Roy asked.

"I'm taking Physics, Chemistry, Calculus and Vectors, History, English and Philosophy."

"Wow. I'm sure you'll fit in with the academic geeks just fine."

They shared a laugh.

"How are you going to get to school by the way? You already have a license right? Do you plan on buying a car?"

Alfons shook his head. "No, I don't think I have enough money to buy one. Besides I don't mind taking the bus."

"We already talked about it and if you want, me and Riza don't mind taking you to and from, I mean we all go to the same school after all."

"You don't mind? really?" Alfons asked, surprised.

"Not at all. So, what do you say? Your grandpa has to leave earlier than we do for work, I'd bet our car is nicer than the bus."

Alfons beamed at him, genuinely grateful "Thank you, thank you so much, I appreciate it."

Just then, Katrina grew tired of her building blocks and crawled over to Roy's legs. The two of them looked down at her as Katrina grabbed at the fabric of Roy's pants and shakily pulled herself up to her feet. Roy smiled and scooped his daughter up into his arms before depositing her safely on his lap and kissing her cheek.

Alfons smiled at the display. "She's a really pretty baby."

"Mmm, that she is, my little black haired Riza." Roy murmured as he pinched Katrina's cheek playfully. The little girl let out a contagious peal of laughter and Roy and Alfons grinned. Her eyes landed on Alfons and this time instead of shying away, she flashed him a wide toothless smile. She then grabbed onto Roy's shirt and heaved herself up, her chocolate brown eyes never leaving Alfons, as if intently awaiting his reaction. Roy let out a light hearted chuckle.

"Now she's just showing off."

Alfons laughed and clapped his hands, humoring the little girl. "Wow Katrina, I'm impressed."

"She likes you already. Heh, but then again she likes everybody. Guess she's just as happy as the rest of us to have you here."

Alfons smile softened as he turned his eyes back to Roy. "Thank you. I'm glad to be here." And he was, it was only the first day and he already felt like these people have fully accepted him as a part of their lives. Maybe he doesn't feel completely comfortable with them yet but they were very good people and Alfons knew that soon enough he'd come to be as close to them as he had been to the Armstrongs.

* * *

Sunday passed by without incident, Alfons spent most of his time up in his room unpacking and answering uncle Alex's emails (He opened his email account that morning and until the afternoon he still couldn't figure out how his uncle managed to write all 37, that's right _37 _lengthy, detailed emails and send them all to him in the span of 24 hours) and next door playing with Katrina, who was slowly starting to form an attachment to him or getting pointers from Roy and Riza about the high school he'd soon be attending.

Monday, he found himself babysitting for 2 hours while Roy and Riza went out to have their usual "alone day", which Alfons discovered was once a month, during which they leave Katrina to grandpa Grumman so that the two of them could spend some time alone together. But since grandpa Grumman left earlier that day to buy Alfons the syrups that he needed to keep the coughing and other symptoms at bay (He wasn't allowed to bring the ones he had in Munich because there was a short limit to the liquids allowed on a plane), he was left alone with Katrina. Not that he was complaining, he didn't have that much experience with babies but Katrina slept 1 of the 2 hours away and the hour that she was awake, she did nothing but play with the toys Riza left for her and common baby games with Alfons. Grandpa Grumman returned after that and he taught Alfons how to properly hold her and how to change diapers, much to Alfons' chagrin, diapers and 17 year old boys, even patient, soft spoken ones like him just do not mix.

Tuesday, he and grandpa Grumman dropped by the school to pick up his schedule for the school year. After getting his schedule, one of the guidance councilors took them on a tour around the school, helpfully pointing out Alons' classes and the best routes to each one. After that Alfons asked if they could go to the library which grandpa Grumman wholeheartedly agreed to, saying that some of his friends worked there and he might as well drop by and say hi.

After they got there, grandpa Grumman immediately dragged Alfons over to the front desk where a short old lady with round glasses and hair pulled up in a peculiar bun sat, flipping through a magazine boredly.

"Well hello there Pinako."

He greeted her as they approached. The old lady, now known as Pinako looked up at them and offered them both a bored stare. Grandpa Grumman chuckled "You look like you sure could use a puff from your favorite pipe right now." Pinako's bored stare grew even bleaker as she frowned. "That's because I do. But unless I come up with a way to make everything in this building inflammable, they're never gonna let me smoke in here. What brings you here?" she asked. Grandpa Grumman gestured to Alfons. "My grandson came back from Germany 2 days ago. He wanted to see the library so here we are." he said. Pinako turned her eyes to him with a small "Huh."

Alfons offered her a polite smile. "Hello." he greeted. Pinako turned her eyes back to grandpa Grumman. " Quite a handsome thing, he is. Not at all like you." Grandpa Grumman laughed and feigned a hurt expression. "Ooh, that hurt my feelings Madam Rockbell." he said, pretending to clutch at his chest in pain. Pinako ignored him but there was a small teasing smile on her lips. She turned back to Alfons and held out her hand. "I'm Pinako Rockbell." Alfons took her hand in his, fascinated at how tiny hers was compared to his, and shook it gently. "Alfons Heiderich. It's nice to meet you ma'am." Pinako pulled back her hand after he shook it and placed her chin on her palm. Her eyes moved back to Grandpa Grumman but her face remained turned toward Alfons. "This the boy you said got shipped off to live with that Armstrong fellow 11 years ago?" she asked. Grandpa Grumman nodded. "The very same." She turned her eyes back to Alfons.

"Your English is pretty good."

Alfons let out a brief chuckle and shrugged. "A lot of Germans speak fluent English, and it's a required course in the school system so maybe that's why I never forgot how to speak it."

Pinako raised both her eyebrows and let out an interested "Hmm."

"Anyway, Alfons, why don't we get you a library card so you can start borrowing books as soon as possible?" Grandpa Grumman spoke up.

"Actually, do you mind if I take a look at all the books first?" It seemed like a rude thing to say in front of Pinako considering she worked here so he didn't mention it but he wanted to make sure that there are enough books worth borrowing in the library before he got a library card, just to ensure that it wouldn't be wasted. He didn't want to sound like he was undermining the library.

Grandpa Grumman nodded. "Oh, well I don't see why not. You go on ahead; I'll stay here and chat with Pinako. Don't take too long okay?" Alfons smiled at him and nodded. "It was nice meeting you Miss Rockbell." he called out as he walked away. Pinako waved at him. "Likewise Mr. Heiderich." she called back.

The library was made up of three floors, the lower floor, the main floor and the top floor. The children's section filled up most of the lower floor, the only things not belonging being a few shelves of adult paper back fiction and a small music section. They were probably moved there because of lack of space on the main floor, where the teen and adult books could all be found along with the rest of the music and video section. Alfons spent a few minutes in the main floor, skimming through some shelves in the teen section before deciding to check out the top floor first before really looking at the books. So he went upstairs, but after finding out that the only things on the top floor were a multi purpose auditorium, a computer equipment room, a staff room and administrative offices, he went back down to the main floor.

After browsing through several shelves, Alfons decided that this library was fairly well stocked and he was just about to turn back to the front desk to get a library card when he heard something. He was walking along the M shelf in the teen section when he heard it and he stopped in front of several hard bound copies of The Host and The Twilight series books. (Figures that Stephenie Meyer would own almost half of the Me- authors section of the M's. Which reminds him, when he gets bored enough he needs to pick up a twilight and see what everyone was griping and swooning about). It sounds distinctly like grunting and it seemed to be coming from the other side of the shelf. Curious, he walked around to the other side and was surprised to find another boy, probably around his age, practically on his toes, one arm stretched up to full length, trying to pluck out one book on the third top shelf. He had long blond hair that was weaved into a braid and long chin-length bangs that blocked his face from Alfons' view. There was a red backpack dangling from one of his shoulders that swayed slightly from side to side as he attempted to reach the book. He was wearing a red hoodie and black jeans and if it weren't for the fact that even with all of his limbs hidden under his clothes, Alfons could see that he had a quite decent masculine build, he would've thought he was a girl.

Alfons blinked and ever the helpful person he was, he walked over to where the other blond stood and reached up to take the book he was trying to reach. Alfons had to lift his heels a fraction of an inch and stretch his arm a little to reach it but he managed. When Alfons' hand grabbed onto the middle part of the book's spine(which was about an inch away from the person's fingertips) the other boy startled and turned to face him as he pulled the book out of the shelf.

Amber eyes so bright they were almost gold, met his and Alfons was momentarily stunned by such a unique eye color. The person's expression was slightly peeved, almost insulted when he turned towards him but it immediately morphed from incensed to startled when he actually saw Alfons' face.

"Here you go." Alfons said holding out the book he still had in his hand (The 2010 Almanac, he noted).

The person stared at him for a few seconds with that same, shocked look in his wide eyes and just as Alfons was wondering if he had unknowingly acquired a deformity in his features, the amber eyed boy shook his head and took the Almanac from him gratefully.

"Thanks." he murmured, looking down at the book he now had in his hand.

"No problem." Alfons replied with a small smile. Now that he wasn't stretching up to the highest height he can manage, he could see that the other boy wasn't that far away in height from him, probably half a head shorter and his skin was pale, almost sallow but Alfons knew that his own skin was sallow to the extreme, a lot worse than this person's was he was sure. Alfons watched as he bent down and placed the almanac on top of a fairly tall pile of books made up of both thin paper backs and thick hard bound volumes. His eyebrows raised in surprise when he saw it, it was on the floor, by the other boy's feet and Alfons saw that the pile reached all the way up to the other boy's knees. His eyes widened even more when the boy carefully slipped his fingers beneath the pile and heaved it up into his arms. The pile was taller than his head, he was bound to run into something if he walked around with that in his arms.

"Do you need some help with that?" Alfons asked, slightly alarmed when the boy took two steps forward and the book pile swayed.

"Nah, I'm okay. Thanks anyway." An offhanded voice answered from behind the mountain of books.

"Let me help, if you walk around with all those books in front of your face you might run into something." Alfons said, already moving to take half of the books. Once the pile had been cut in half, the boy's face peeked up at him, looking like he was about to protest and Alfons saw that if he hadn't been convinced that he wasn't a girl before he certainly would be now. The first adjective that came to mind to describe his face was boyish. It could be considered handsome but not in the common gentlemanly posh way but in the thrown together, slightly rugged, didn't-intended-to-look-good-but-just-does way. This face was not feminine, not at all.

The other boy shrugged. "Thanks. Again."

Alfons grinned at him. "No problem. Again."

"Were you taking these to checkout?" Alfons asked as they began walking.

"Yeah." The boy answered curtly.

It didn't seem like he was the type to keep conversations going so Alfons took the initiative.

"I'm Alfons by the way."

The other blond turned to him with a small smile. "Edward. Nice to meet you… Alfons."

Then, Edward turned up the corners of his lips even farther and Alfons found himself thinking that when he bothered to do it properly, Edward actually had a really nice smile.

They made it to the checkout machines then and Alfons helped by handing him books as he passed them under the red scan light.

Edward had his lip between his teeth and he looked like there was something bothering him as he scanned the books and stuffed them into the back pack he was carrying. Alfons was about to ask him what was wrong when he spoke "I could've reached it you know. If I jumped a bit I could've tugged it out of the shelf myself, I'm not that short." Edward said, his expression promising violence if Alfons dared to contradict.

Alfons laughed, slightly uneasy, wild Rottweilers would probably cower like puppies in front of that face. "I know that, you're not that far from my height. I just like helping that's all."

"Oh." Edward mumbled, surprised as he tried and failed to hide his embarrassed expression. He looked so discomfited; the only thing missing was a blush. It was actually quite cute.

After all of his books were checked out and safely stored in his back pack, Alfons found himself feeling a bit disappointed that he had to say goodbye to this strange boy right away. That's why as casually as he could, he offered to walk Edward to the exit, which was right next to the front desk, where his grandpa was waiting. To his relief, Edward seemed to think nothing of it and just shrugged and said "Sure." As they walked Alfons found himself sneaking several sidelong glances at the boy walking next to him. He seemed nice enough and there was a strangeness to him that Alfons found interesting, like the comical way he pointed out he wasn't short, and Alfons wasn't gonna lie, he wasn't just strangely interesting, he was strangely attractive as well.

As he and Edward walked toward the exit, Grandpa Grumman surprised him by greeting Edward by name and asking him how he was. Edward smiled at him and returned the greeting.

"Hi Ed, how is your old man doing?"

Edward rolled his eyes at the question and when he answered he looked slightly put off. "Still as weird and annoying as ever, I really don't get how people can actually like that freak."

Alfons was appalled that someone would talk like that about his father in front of elderly people but his grandpa just chuckled heartily at Edward's response and patted him on the shoulder. "Tell him I said hi."

Edward scoffed as if the idea totally repulsed him. "Sure." He muttered grudgingly. He looked at his wrist then, where a watch was half hidden under his sleeve. "He should be out there right about now, waiting for me in his car. I'll go see if he is." He looked at Grandpa Grumman and Pinako. "Mr. Grumman, Granny Pinako." he said, nodding at them in goodbye, then he turned to Alfons. "It was nice meeting you." Alfons smiled and waved goodbye as he walked out the door.

"You met Edward?" Grandpa Grumman asked him after Edward left. Alfons nodded. "Mmhmm, he was carrying too much books and I helped him."

"That sounds like him. Good thing he let you help him." Grandpa Grumman said with a smile.

"How do you know him?" Alfons asked though he probably shouldn't be surprised, it was common for people to know everybody in a town this small.

"He's my doctor's son. Pretty smart kid, probably as smart as you, he goes to your school, I think you'd get along well with him."

Alfons smiled. He hoped so.

Before they left, Alfons got himself a library card and after saying their goodbyes to Pinako, they stopped by a Tim Horton's for some coffee and a box of donuts. They made it home just in time to prepare dinner and as Grandpa Grumman set the table, Alfons went next door to share some donuts with Riza and Roy. After dinner he went to his room to check for any emails from uncle Alex and after he was done answering all of them.(He _really_ had to tell him to limit the emails to one a day) he got the things he'd need for school tomorrow ready, running over his schedule and the school map to make sure he knows fairly well where he'd be headed tomorrow. He went to bed that night with butterflies in his stomach, fluttering about at the thought of starting over in a new school.

* * *

When morning came the sky was gray, which was not a good sign. Alfons dragged himself out of bed, not liking the ominous sound of rain as he showered and got ready for his first day of school. He turned the water just a tad bit too hot, hoping that it could somehow keep him warm later. He was more prone to coughing when it was cold and he didn't wanna scare people by hacking up blood in front of them on his first day. After slipping into some dark denims, a white button down shirt and a thick light blue sweater, he opened a window to gauge the temperature, unhappily noting that the rain did indeed made the frigid October air even worse. So he grabbed his favorite pea coat, double checked to make sure he had his pills in his bag and went downstairs to grab a cup of coffee and some breakfast.

Grandpa Grumman was already there when he got downstairs and he smiled at him as he walked into the kitchen.

"Morning 'fons." He ran his eyes over Alfons. "You look handsome as always. Come have breakfast with your grandpa."

Alfons smiled at him as he eyed the platters of Bacon, eggs and toast on the table and sighed appreciatively as he sat down.

"Eat up, you'd wanna look alive for your first day." Then his voice turned almost silent, as if he was afraid to ask. "Alfons, if you feel unwell, even the slightest bit or if you feel you might get sick, don't hesitate to call. I'll pick you up right away." His face clouded with worry and Alfons offered him an encouraging smile. "I will. Thanks Grandpa." He reached over to pat his grandpa's hand comfortingly. Yes he preferred not discussing his condition but that doesn't mean he'd get offended whenever anyone tries to look out for him. Grandpa Grumman smiled at him and they shared a glance before turning back to breakfast.

Before Alfons was finished eating, Grandpa Grumman excused himself, saying he needed to get going for work. He bid Alfons goodbye, wished him luck on his first day, kissed him on the forehead and left to get his car, leaving a slightly stunned Alfons behind. He loved his grandpa and he knew his grandpa loved him too but it still surprised him how easily he showed it, as if Alfons had grown up with him all along. It sort of made him feel guilty that he couldn't act the same despite having the excuse of being away from him, this town and this country for 11 whole years.

After finishing breakfast, Alfons scooped up his bag, slipped into his coat and left the house, locking the door behind him and leaving the key in the eave where Grandpa Grumman told him to leave it and went next door to see if Roy and Riza were ready to leave. The rain got reduced to a drizzle as he stepped out but the temperature felt like it dropped further as the cold air bit at his cheeks and his breath misted in front of him.

He got to their house just as they were about to go out and get him and together, all of them piled into the family's Sentra. Katrina was happy to see him as usual and crooned and gurgled endlessly in her booster seat next to Alfons, only stopping when they had to drop her off at the day care center. The school was only 8 minutes away from the day care and soon enough, Alfons found himself waiting with bated breath as they drove into the school's parking lot.

Stratford Central Secondary School or Central as everyone called it was one of the three main high schools in Stratford and was known mainly for it's arts and music program. It housed most of the aspiring actors, artists and musicians of Stratford within it's tall, wide walls and as Alfons stepped out of the car and stared up at it, it finally sunk in that this was where he was going to be spending most of his time from now on. Roy assured him that the school wasn't only composed of artsy people but still the fear that he wouldn't fit in tugged at his mind. It wasn't that he minded, the thought of making new friends had been treated the same way as finding a boyfriend in Alfons' mind, in the end, it would only cause them and him pain but Alfons doesn't like not fitting in, not fitting in meant standing out and just being the object of someone's scrutiny was something he instantly shied away from, he couldn't imagine what it'd be like if he were the object of _every one's_ scrutiny. Not that he could fully escape scrutiny anyway, being the new kid and all.

As he, Riza and Roy began walking across the parking lot towards the school, Alfons found himself suffering a mild coughing fit. Riza and Roy both turned to him in concern but he smiled at them and assured him he was fine with a look.

"Your Grand father informed admin of your condition and he asked us both to make sure that all the teachers are aware of it too, if anything happens, don't hesitate to tell them okay?" Roy said. Alfons nodded but inconspicuously touched the small bottle of pills in the front pocket of his canvas messenger bag. He didn't think much about it but now that he knew every adult in the place was ready to spring into action incase something happened just caused him to fear that something _will_ invariably happen.

As they made their way up the concrete steps that led to the school entrance, Alfons' mind swam with images of different scenarios involving him having breathing problems or something even worse right in the middle of class and not having a teacher there to help. His inner pessimist rudely made itself known and Alfons found himself shrinking back in fear as he got closer to the doors.

But then, Riza's hand was suddenly on his shoulder and they were standing in an empty corridor decorated by lockers, banners and posters and all the fear promptly vanished as he realized he was actually in the school and he was still completely fine. He sighed in relief and Riza, taking it as a sigh of nervousness rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

"This is it, you ready?"

Alfons took a deep breath. "Yeah."

* * *

Chapter 1, end! ^^

Just a few things:

*Stratford is a city in Southern Ontario, It's originally a small town (and it still is really, It's sooo small town-ish.) but it was officially incorporated as a city in 1886. I've only been there once for a school trip. (If you can count watching a play as a school trip XD Oh well, I went there in an ugly yellow school bus with teachers and students so yeah, I guess you could). It is such a neat, peaceful little town with streets and shops named after Shakespeare's plays and characters, it's so fascinating ^^. It's a very art centered place, lots of musicians, actors and writers live there and after a bit of further research I discovered that it was the _perfect _location for this story.

*The Stratford Central high school actually exists and I wasn't planning to use it as one of the main settings for the story for fear of getting a detail about it wrong and risk getting chewed out by someone who actually goes there XD but after I found out people call it _Central_, a little voice in my head screamed, 'IT'S CANON! Central- FMA, can u SEE the connection? DO IT!' and I wound up actually using it. I searched for pictures of the school and dropped by it's official website AND a few others for info on it so I know a few things about it XD I hope that'd be enough but just in case, This is a fiction, and I don't go there so hopefully no one would flame me for anything I might write involving the school.

*According to the fma wiki, a few chapters came out with colored pages that depict Roy with blue eyes I found it cool but just couldn't picture Mustang with legit blue eyes, so I made them dark blue XP

The Edfons would be coming soon enough! If you're interested stay tuned

-Ja ne!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again my dear people! If you're reding this then I'm so glad to see you again here :D Thank you to the people who reviewed the previous chapter, You're awesome

And now,without further adieu, chapter 2 :)

* * *

They arrived 40 minutes before the first bell rang and after Roy and Riza left to go to their respective department staff rooms, Alfons was left to wander the halls alone, waiting for the bell. He wandered aimlessly at first, observing the surroundings and trying to memorize them to avoid getting lost later on. After going through the main corridors, he decided to try and see if he could find all of his classes again. After seeing that he could, he went back to his first class then from there went to the second, third and fourth in order, memorizing the route he took so he didn't have to check the map over and over throughout the day.

Relatively sure he wouldn't get lost later, Alfons decided to go to the cafeteria and sit down to wait out the last 15 minutes he had left before everybody needed to go to class. When he first passed it earlier, it was almost empty but when he got there, people were crowded in different tables, most of them talking and laughing excitedly. Alfons wove around the tables silently, looking for an empty one and as he passed the ones with people in them, he saw what Roy meant by being intimidated by all the art geeks. Many of the tables had students with sketch books and other art projects in them and it seemed like the rest of the tables either had musical people (he didn't like calling them geeks, especially because they were sitting right there) or theatre people in them and being someone without a single artistic bone in his body, Alfons felt like a twig lost in a sea of flowers.

Eventually he found an empty table that was relatively secluded and he immediately sat down in it. For a few minutes he just sat there staring off into space, then just for the sake of doing something, he pulled out his schedule again and checked to make sure he knew the order of his classes. The school year was divided into two semesters and everyday, there are 4 periods, excluding the 40 minute lunch periods. This semester Alfons had English first period, a spare period/study hall for second, lunch, Physics and History. In the next semester, he had…Alfons folded his schedule with a sigh and placed his back in his bag.

It didn't matter, given the estimated time his doctor had given him, he was most probably not gonna even need to know what his schedule would be for the next semester.

He shook his head and tried not to think about it. He came here to do the opposite of wallowing in despair and self-pity; he came here to live as happily and normally as he could.

Just then, the first bell rang loudly, interrupting his thoughts and signaling the beginning of classes. Alfons took a deep breath, gloom and doom all but forgotten and stood up, following the rest of the students as they all began heading out of the cafeteria and to their respective classes.

People stared at him when he entered his first class and Alfons consciously avoided their gazes as he went to the teacher's table to show her his timetable and to ask where he could sit. He wasn't surprised that they would stare, it was October, the second month of the semester, everyone would have been settled in their classes now and anyone who was new to the school would be all too easy to spot. Still, it didn't stop him from wishing they'd look at anything else though.

His teacher (Ms. Ross according to his timetable) was relatively young, about the same age as Riza with short dark hair, cobalt blue eyes and a beauty mark under her left eye. Her eyes widened a bit as he told her his name, obviously Roy and Riza kept their word about making sure all of the teachers were informed. However instead of looking at him like he might keel over any second like most people back in Munich did, she just smiled at him kindly, wished he'd have a pleasant time in the school and told him that she didn't have a seating plan so he could go sit wherever he liked.

She didn't make him introduce himself to the class, which made him like her even more and after giving him copies of the books they were going to study throughout the semester, she gave him a sincere 'let me know if you need anything' and sent him off to find a seat.

There was an entire row of empty seats at the back and Alfons slid into the seat closest to the wall where no one would notice him.

The period passed without incident, some people kept turning to sneak glances at him but other than that, English went well.

He had study hall second period with lunch right after and he spent majority of it in the cafeteria, eating a sandwich he bought while reading 1984, the book they were currently studying in English. The cafeteria was pretty nice and quiet at first because of the lack of people but when the lunch bell rang and a sea of students began filling up the tables, Alfons stood and went to the school library, not wanting to sit alone and consequently be the focus of many curious stares.

Third period went by like the first, except his Physics teacher Ms. Eckhart, a strawberry-blonde woman with strict green eyes, made him stand in front of the class and introduce himself and she had a seat plan so he was forced to sit next to a baby-faced blond boy with long bangs. It could just be his imagination but he could've sworn each time he looked up as he took notes from Ms. Eckhart's lecture, the boy was looking at him from behind his bangs. He thought nothing of it at first but when the bell rang and he stood up to put his binder back in his bag, he tapped Alfons on the shoulder.

"Alfons right?"

He said it like Ael-phonse (A/N: The same way Alphonse says his name in the English dub for brotherhood, he lingers on the A for some reason XD) and before he could think about it, Alfons corrected him. "Alfons."

"Sorry. I'm Russell, Russell Tringham."

He said with a bright smile as he held out his hand for Alfons to shake.

Alfons took it. "Nice to meet you." he said smiling back in return.

"Welcome to Stratford, must be very different from Germany eh?" Russell asked as the two of them began walking toward the door.

"Yeah but it hadn't changed that much so it's not that new to me. I used to live here." Alfons said. Was he imagining the look Russell was giving him? He only ever saw girls look at him like that, whenever he caught them daydreaming while staring at him.

"Really?"

"Mmhmm."

"When did you move to Germany? I've been here since I was 12 and I never saw you."

"I lived here til I was 6, then I had to go live with my god father because my parents died."

Russell looked appropriately taken aback. "Oh… Sorry."

Alfons shrugged. "It's okay."

They were out the door now and Alfons was just about to bid him goodbye and walk away when Russell interrupted him. "Where's your next class?"

Alfons blinked. "Umm, History with Curtis"

Russell smiled just a bit happier than necessary. "Curtis? His class is right next to my English class. C'mmon, I'll walk you there."

Alfons let Russell walk him to class and the whole time, he talked about the different clubs and events in the school, suggesting things that Alfons might enjoy after asking him about his interests. (He avoided asking personal questions, much to Alfons relief, he must not have wanted to touch on any more sensitive topics after finding out why Alfons had to move to Germany) Russell himself was the president of the environment club and the science club and he asked Alfons, several times, to join either or both clubs, insisting quite enthusiastically when Alfons said he wasn't planning on joining any clubs.

"Well, just think about it. We could sure use more people."

Russell said as they arrived in front of room 231, Alfons' History class.

"I'll think about it. I wanna get settled in the school first before signing up for anything." Alfons said.

Russell grinned at him. "Well, when you finally decide, let me know. And if there's anything else you need, don't hesitate to ask."

Alfons smiled. "Ok."

Russell smiled charmingly at him and walked into his class. As soon as he was gone, Alfons let out a small sigh. That was…weird. He had been treated like that many times before and he wasn't blind to why Russell acted that way after just meeting him. However, he had only ever received that kind of treatment from _girls_ and it unnerved him a bit now that a boy did it. Of course, he wished that it would happen a few times before, back when he was a romantically curious 13 year old but now that it actually happened… Russell was pretty good looking, he'd admit that much and he seemed nice but Alfons couldn't see himself liking him as anything other than a friend.

His interest had already been caught by another blond with unusual amber eyes. And though Russell tried, he didn't manage to steal it away.

Which reminded him, Grandpa Grumman said that Edward went to Central too but Alfons was still yet to see him. He turned to the door of his history class, oh well, maybe he was in here. Alfons smiled and shook his head, somehow doubting the thought. He pushed the door open and walked inside. He hadn't seen him all day, he didn't think that'd change no-

Alfons stopped short as his eyes scanned the back row and spotted a familiar head of long, braided, blond hair. There, in the seat closest to the back corner of the room was Edward, looking bored to tears as he gazed up at the ceiling, chin cradled in one hand and looking as if he was searching it for something that could pique his interest. His skin looked paler now that there were at least 20 other people to compare him to. He looked paler than everyone in the room (Except for Alfons himself he was sure.) and it made him stand out.

His eyes remained on Edward as he went over to show his teacher his schedule and he saw that it wasn't just his skin that made him stand out, the seat in front of and the two next to him were all empty, giving him more room to be seen. He wondered why that was when his teacher, a rather intimidating man who looked like he should be a professional wrestler rather than a History teacher, pried his timetable out of his hands.

Mr. Curtis was probably about the same size and mass as Uncle Alex and Alfons found himself smiling inwardly at the resemblance.

After looking at his timetable and confirming that Alfons was where he was supposed to be, Mr. Curtis sent him to the few empty seats in the back. Alfons immediately eyed the empty seat to Edward's left and was intending fully to sit there but before he could reach it, a girl sitting two rows in front of Edward called his attention.

"Hey there new guy. Why don't you come sit with me?"

She had short, dark hair styled in a bob cut and violet eyes that gazed up at him expectantly as she placed one hand on the seat next to hers and leaned forward, carefully letting the wide neck line of her shirt to slip down just the slightest bit.

Alfons absolutely did not want to sit next to her and he was about to lie and say that Edward was his friend and they agreed to sit next to each other when she grabbed his arm and pulled him down to the seat next to hers.

"I'm Lyra. What's your name?"

She told him as soon as he was seated. "I'm Alfons." he replied with a hesitant smile.

She tilted her head down so that the light from the fluorescent lamps on the ceiling would reflect in her violet eyes as she smiled charmingly at him. It made her eyes look like rare amethysts and he admitted that she looked really pretty when she did it. Obviously, she knew how to play up her assets to attract guys and it would've worked …if she was doing it to someone else.

"Where you from Alfons?" she asked.

"Munich. Germany." he replied.

She made an impressed face and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off when Mr. Curtis stood in front of the class and started calling attendance.

Mr. Curtis started the lesson immediately after calling attendance, much to Alfons relief because Lyra acted much the same as Russell, except she was worse. She kept flinging flirtatious looks and words at him that Alfons barely managed to dodge without seeming rude and the only thing that held her back were the watchful eyes of Mr. Curtis. The man looked scary and judging by the way Lyra stopped talking whenever his eyes passed over where they sat, he _could _be scary too.

He snuck glances at Edward over his shoulder whenever Lyra pretended to pay attention to what Mr. Curtis was saying, observing him quietly and wondering if Edward even knew he was there. He didn't from the looks of it. Every time he looked, Edward was either looking at the ceiling or the windows, looking like he'd rather gnaw his own arm off than spend another boring minute in class. He didn't seem to be paying attention to anything, heck he didn't seem like he was even _seeing _anything other than whatever thoughts of boredom he must be thinking.

"What are you staring at Edward for?"

Alfons stiffened and turned toward Lyra. "Umm, oh is that his name?" he asked, saying the first thing that came to his mind.

Lyra looked just the slightest bit put off but answered anyway. "Yeah. I called your name twice but you were so busy staring at him, you didn't even hear me." Alfons chuckled uneasily.

"Sorry. I was just wondering why the seats close to him are all empty." which was true too.

Lyra seemed to believe him and smirked. "Because it's him, Edward Elric is our resident Edward Cullen, girls _and_ guys are crazy for him but at the same time everybody's afraid of him too."

Alfons raised his eyebrows, intrigued. "Why?"

Lyra shrugged. "He's weird, for one thing he doesn't socialize, he doesn't seem to like people and for another, he got into fights a few times before. All the guys he fought had to go to a hospital."

"Really?" Alfons asked, surprised.

He turned back to stare at Edward again, trying to picture him fighting somebody and winning. He couldn't see it, Edward didn't even look like he was 17 (which he should be considering he's in grade 12), he could definitely pass for 16 and maybe even a tall 15 year old if he tried, someone like him just didn't look like the type to get into fights.

His staring was interrupted when Edward turned his eyes from whatever he was staring at and his gaze landed on Alfons' face. The dull, listless look in them disappeared and was replaced with recognition and Alfons was about to smile at him, completely forgetting that Lyra was sitting next to him. Before he could however, Lyra dragged his attention back to herself with a simple question.

"So, have any of the girls in the school caught your eye yet?" She asked, voice thick with implication.

"Err…"

Luckily for Alfons, the final bell chose that moment to blare loudly and he barely suppressed a sigh of relief as he stood up to gather his things. Even more lucky for him, a girl with black hair and bubble gum pink bangs chose that moment to approach Lyra and drag her away, saying something about homework. Lyra looked disappointed but turned to Alfons before walking off with the girl. "Sorry, I gotta go. This girl is absolutely useless without me." she said, inclining her head to the girl. "See ya." she said with a small wave before turning and walking away with the girl with pink bangs.

He watched them go, surprised when he saw a flash of long blonde hair a few feet in front of them, already walking through the door. Alfons blinked and whirled to find that Edward's chair was indeed empty. He whirled back around just as Lyra and that other girl exited the door. How did he get to the door so fast? Well come to think of it, he was a little distracted by Lyra when the bell rang, Edward must've walked past them when the girl with the pink bangs came to get Lyra. He sighed, he wanted to at least say hi to him. Oh well, at least he knew that Edward was in his class.

* * *

When he went out to the parking lot to meet up with Riza and Roy, the wind was blowing from every direction and he pulled his collar up to shield his face from the chilly air. He was the first one to make it back to the Sentra and he stood behind it, keeping an eye out for either half of the Mustang couple. He let his thoughts wander freely as he waited and he got so deep into them that he didn't even notice when a red car stopped right in front of him.

It was only when the black tinted window rolled down and a voice called out his name did he finally notice that there was a…car (It _looked_ like an old Camaro but there were parts like the pointy triangle shaped side mirrors that seemed like they didn't belong there but was forcibly attached to it anyway) in front of him and there was an all too familiar blond head leaning out of the window.

"Alfons."

Edward greeted, Alfons blinked more surprised at the car rather than who was driving it. (Were those _spikes_ along the bumper?) Eventually, he recovered his voice and he replied.

"Oh, hi."

"What're you doing just standing there? Do you need a ride home?" Edward asked, gesturing with his hand that Alfons could get in the car and ride with him if he didn't.

Alfons was actually a bit disappointed that he already had a ride home. Just a tiny bit. Honest.

"No, this is my cousin's car. She teaches here and I'm waiting for her right now so we could go home together." Alfons replied, gesturing to the Sentra.

"Oh. Okay then. See you in class tomorrow." Edward replied.

Alfons smiled, secretly pleased that Edward did notice they were in the same class after all and Edward nodded at him before rolling his window back up. The red Camaro-thing drove away and shortly after it left, Roy and Riza made it to where he was.

Riza grinned when she saw him. "How was your first day?"

"It was ok. How was your day?"

She shrugged. "Same as always. Are you looking forward to coming back tomorrow?"

Alfons replied honestly. "Yeah."

* * *

They got home before Grandpa Grumman and Alfons decided to check on his e-mails before doing anything else. There was only one message much to his surprise and it simply said:

**Uncle Alex wouldn't be able to write to you much in the next few days, big sister just came home from Russia and she seems intent on keeping me busy for as long as she's here. I hope you're eating well, be sure to get plenty of sleep. By the way, did I forget to remind you to take your glasses before you left? Do you have them with you? Because one of the maids said something about finding a glasses case, if you don't have them, tell me as soon as possible and I'll find it and send it there. If you do have them, don't forget to wear them when you read or when you go to school, I know you're fine without them most of the time but still. I don't want my beloved God child to suffer from unnecessary headaches.**

**Oh and I think you'd be happy to know that the painting of you that I started before you left is almost finished and-…I hear big sister calling me, I must bid you farewell now. Take care of yourself and don't forget to write back**

**-Uncle Alex.**

Alfons' eyebrows rose in surprise, Aunt Olivier was in Germany? Oh dear. He wondered how many injuries Uncle Alex had already sustained and cringed at what he managed to imagine. Aunt Olivier was shorter and a lot smaller than Uncle Alex but for some reason, that doesn't stop her from pushing him around and inflicting bumps and bruises on him. She's a very err…callous woman (Not that she isn't a good person…deep down.) and Alfons had a very healthy level of respect for her but it'd be nice if she could stop challenging Uncle Alex at target practice, archery and other things where she can endanger his physical health.

He went off to search his room for his glasses and typed up a response when he found them safely in his drawer. He must've left his spare case at home.

After sending the reply email to Uncle Alex, Alfons made his way downstairs and began doing his chores. He may have grown up in a mansion attended by dozens of maids but he knew how to use a washing machine and a stove (though his cooking is only limited to simple breakfast classics and standard fry-ables like fish and chicken). He had just returned from the basement after loading the clothes in the hamper into the washer and he was about to go to the kitchen and get himself a snack when Grandpa Grumman came home.

"You there 'fons?" he called out as he took off his shoes.

"I'm here." Alfons called back as he walked towards the front door. "Willkommen, err I mean, welcome home. Sorry, I slipped."

Grandpa Grumman laughed and shook his head. "It's okay, you were only speaking English 24/7 for a few days, you were bound to slip up some time. What's 'welcome home' in German again?"

Alfons smiled. "Willkommen zu Hause."

Grandpa Grumman repeated the sentence several times, trying to memorize it. "Hmm, you should teach me German some time, it sounds interesting. How was your first day at school?" he asked as they moved to the kitchen.

"It was ok." Alfons replied as he pulled out a yogurt drink and an apple from the fridge.

"Did anything happen?" Grandpa Grumman asked as he pulled out the tea pot from one of the cabinets above the stove, his casual tone fading to a more serious one.

Alfons knew what he was asking and smiled and shook his head. "Nope. I was completely fine."

Grandpa Grumman looked relieved. "Good. Did you make any new friends?"

He didn't think Russell and Lyra counted but he felt like Grandpa Grumman would feel better if he answered yes, so he did.

"Did any of the girls catch your attention?" Grandpa Grumman asked with a small teasing smile.

Alfons let out a weak laugh. He wondered if he'd ever get tired of avoiding it and tell him straight out that non of the girls in the school would ever get his attention.

"No." he answered and took a bite out of his apple to avoid having to say anything else.

Thankfully Grandpa Grumman didn't ask him anything more about girls and moved on to another question.

Grandpa Grumman made some tea for himself and bought out the box of Danish pastry in the fridge for them to share as he asked Alfons about his teachers and his classes. After he had asked everything that could be asked about someone's first day of school, Grandpa Grumman went to the living room to watch some TV and Alfons went upstairs to do his homework.

He went downstairs to the basement after he was done and transferred the clothes to the dryer before going to the kitchen to help with dinner. After dinner, he washed the dishes while Grandpa Grumman got the clothes out of the dryer.

That night after all his clothes had been put away and he had changed into a pair of plain blue pajamas and a white cotton shirt, Alfons found himself tired from school and the housework he was still not fully used to doing but strangely content. He had always tried to help around the large Armstrong household back in Munich but from his childhood until the time he left, he had only ever succeeded in getting the maids to teach him how to properly handle dishes while you're washing them, how to use a washing machine and letting him fold his own clothes.

He learned how to cook from Uncle Alex and sometimes the maids let him cook his own breakfast, however after he got diagnosed with lung cancer and was made weak and frail by the treatment he underwent, they never let him do anything anymore.

It was nice to finally be able to do something and not have people constantly telling him to go lie down and stay in bed.

* * *

The next day started out like the previous one, except it didn't rain.

They arrived 40 minutes before the bell as they had the day before and after he, Roy and Riza parted ways, he went to his locker to drop off his coat. (The heaters in the school seemed to be turned up quite high that morning and he didn't want to carry the coat around on his arm the whole day so he left it in his locker)Then he went to the cafeteria to read 1984 until the bell rang, he remembered Uncle Alex's email the previous night and brought his glasses to school. Alfons made a mental note to thank him later on when reading proved to be easier with the glasses on. It saved his arms from the strain of holding the book up, right in front of his face.

When he walked into English, the class with the most girls out of all his classes, for some reason there were more stares directed at him, most if not all of which were from said girls. Like the day before he avoided meeting any of their gazes but he wondered to himself why the stares were more obvious. He dressed extra casual today, just a plain gray jumper, faded jeans and an old pair of black Converse sneakers. Well, he was wearing a designer cuff bracelet that Aunt Catherine had gotten him for his birthday but it was mostly leather with a single silver chain attached and wasn't that flamboyant plus it was on his _wrist_, people wouldn't stare at him for something on his wrist.

People were nicer too, quite a few (mostly girls not to his surprise) introduced themselves to him and engaged him in friendly conversation.

There were stares and friendly people during second period too. He spent the entire study hall period in the school library this time and during his time there, two girls approached him. One of them turned out to be in his physics class but he forgot her name by the time lunch rolled around.

Since he spent all of second period in the library browsing books, he had no choice but to find an empty table and sit all by himself, thereby leaving himself completely open to stares and more friendly strangers. He sighed as he entered the cafeteria. Oh well, that was life. Besides it wasn't that bad, not bad enough to complain endlessly about or run away from anyway. He looked around, trying to find an empty table. There didn't seem to be any and Alfons was just starting to entertain the thought of eating in an empty stairwell or something when he finally spotted one. It was in the corner, close to the exits that lead to the parking lot.

He sighed in relief and went over to it without double checking to see if it was actually empty.

It wasn't.

He sat on the edge of the rectangular table so Alfons didn't see him at first but as he got closer, Alfons found himself staring down at no other than Edward Elric. He looked just as attractive as the first time he saw him, in that weird, shouldn't-but-just-does way, dressed in black cargo pants and a black and white striped long sleeved shirt with a red tee over it. His hair was in it's usual braid and under the bright cafeteria lights, it looked like polished corn silk. Alfons stood there just staring at him like a school girl for a total of three seconds, before he shook his head and walked over to the table.

"Hey," he greeted.

Edward was reading a book and he looked up when Alfons spoke.

"Hey." he returned the greeting with a small smile.

Alfons was about to ask if he could sit with him when he noticed that aside from the one Edward was sitting on, there was no other chair around the table.

"Umm…"

Edward saw the look on his face and understood. He reached over to the closest table and pulled an unoccupied chair, ignoring the looks he received from the people sitting in the table and setting it adjacent to his. He angled it toward Alfons and said "Sit."

Alfons snuck a glance at the people sitting around the table Edward took the chair from. They didn't look mad so they musn't have been saving it for someone but they did look stunned for some reason.

He sat down hesitantly.

"Sorry bout that, I'm the only one who ever sits here so…" Edward explained with a shrug.

Alfons blinked, wondering how much people must've been afraid of Edward that he had his own private table during lunch.

"I see. Anyway, how have you been?" Alfons asked as he pulled out the sandwich he made that morning out of his bag.

Edward shrugged. "Alright. You?"

"Good. Oh, by the way thanks for offering me a ride yesterday. It was nice of you."

Edward shrugged again. "You looked kind of lost staring into space like that and I thought you were trying to figure out how you were going to get home."

Alfons laughed. "Did I?"

He unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite and when he looked back at Edward, the other boy was looking at him intently with a look in his amber eyes that Alfons couldn't quite place, head tilted to the side. Alfons blinked, wondering what he was thinking when Edward spoke.

"You wear glasses?"

Alfons blinked again, he had completely forgotten that they were still on his face and only remembered when Edward pointed it out. He nodded. "Sometimes. I have mild astigmatism. I'm fine without them but they make reading easier."

Edward nodded "They look…cool, un-nerdy like." Alfons raised an eyebrow at the odd comment but shrugged and thanked him. Edward looked mortified, as if he intended to say something else but replaced it with the wrong thing to say at the last moment. He looked away as if hiding a blush but the pale skin of his cheeks remained flawless and light. He seemed to be trying to avoid saying anything and Alfons took his silence as his cue to continue the conversation.

"So, what classes do you have this semester?"

"Chemistry, Advanced Functions and History." Edward replied.

"And study hall right?" Alfons asked, noticing that Edward only mentioned three classes.

Edward nodded. "Third period."

Out of the corner of his eye, Alfons could see the people in the table closest to them staring at them again. Actually not just them, some people from other nearby tables seemed to have their eyes on his and Edward's table as well. He slid his eyes to them without turning his head to confirm if they actually were and promptly turned his gaze away when he saw that they were. Edward turned his head to look at what had caught his attention.

"Why do people keep staring at me?" he asked.

Edward shrugged. "You're the new kid from Europe, of course people here would stare at you."

Alfons considered that. "True. I guess I just find it weird because I've lived here before."

"Yeah, I heard. Your grandpa went around announcing your return to everyone he knew after he found out you were coming." Edward said, puling out a book mark from one of the many pockets of his pants and marking his place in the book he was reading. He then closed it and folded his arms on the table.

Alfons felt a slight bout of unease. Did Grandpa Grumman tell people why? Did Edward know?

"Why'd you move back here?" Edward asked.

Oh, so he didn't know.

"Personal reasons." Alfons replied shortly. There was a part of him that felt a little bad about avoiding the truth but it was overruled by the part of him that was sick and tired of people looking at him with pity and acting too nice around him. He wanted Edward to treat him like a normal person, not an invalid who might faint if not treated extra carefully.

Thankfully, despite the obvious curiosity in his ocher eyes, Edward didn't pry and just nodded. Alfons took another bite of his sandwich, feeling awkward at the silence that suddenly rose between them.

"You're not eating?" he asked, trying to ease the awkwardness he felt and take Edward's mind from the question he just dodged.

"Nah, I'm not hungry." Edward replied.

Both of them didn't say anything after that and Alfons took more bites of his sandwich as he thought of how to start another conversation.

"So, how long have you been in Stratford?" he asked.

"Since sophomore year, me and my Dad moved here from New York. We both agreed that we didn't like big city life so we moved here." Edward replied.

"And your Mom?" Alfons asked.

"She died when I was younger." he said this matter of factly but it didn't stop Alfons from apologizing.

"Sorry." he said. Edward shrugged but Alfons could swear there was a little sadness in his eyes.

"My Mom's gone too." Alfons said.

"What about your Dad?" Edward asked him.

"He got killed in a car accident. My Mom got sick shortly after that and she died 2 years later.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Edward said with some genuine remorse in his features.

Alfons smiled weakly. "It's okay."

She died at the hands of the disease that was killing him now and it bought a small frown to his lips as he thought of this ironic fact.

"Where in Germany did you come from?" Edward asked him.

"Munich." he replied.

"Oh. I've been there once. It's a neat place."

"It is." Alfons agreed. "When did you go?"

Edward turned his eyes upward, looking as if he was trying to remember.

"I don't remember, it was a long time ago." he said.

They spent the rest of lunch talking about whatever topic came up and Alfons was so absorbed in their conversations that when the bell rang, he felt like it's only been a few minutes since he started talking with Edward.

Alfons stood, took one look at the remains of his unfinished sandwich and threw it in the nearest trash can. He turned back to see Edward still sitting down and was about to ask him if he wasn't going to class before remembering that Edward had study hall now.

"I'll see you in class?"

Alfons asked as he slung his messenger bag over his shoulder, a little disappointed that their exchange had ended but comforted by the fact that he'd see Edward again before the day ended.

"Yeah." Edward said with a smile. "I'll save you a seat."

Alfons didn't want to admit it but that comment made him just a tad bit too happy.

* * *

Physics was considerably uneventful; Russell noticed his glasses and reacted like Edward did. He stared at Alfons for a second or two and said. "You need glasses?" Alfons gave him the exact same answer he gave Edward and Russell replied with a contemplative stare. "Usually, glasses either make you look nerdy or they don't change anything at all. You actually look better with them on."

Alfons had blushed in embarrassment and murmured a "Thanks" at him.

Russell walked him to History again and after he left to go to his own class, the relief Alfons felt at finally being free of his overly friendly presence disappeared as quickly as it came.

Because standing next to the door was no other than Lyra, looking as vivacious as ever as she beamed at him.

She was wearing a purple one shoulder blouse that brought out her violet eyes and super skinny jeans tucked into knee high leather boots. The ensemble didn't only emphasize her rare irises but her figure as well and two guys nearly walked right into the wall when they saw her. Alfons resisted the urge to frown, knowing he was going to get stuck with her and her unwanted attempts at flirting for the whole period.

"Hi Alfons." she greeted.

Alfons forced himself to smile. "Hello."

"Nice glasses. They look really good on you."

Alfons made a mental note to check his reflection in the mirror when he gets home. The last time he checked he didn't look that different when he wore glasses, but for some reason people seem to think he did.

"Thank you." he said with a smile.

She gestured to their classroom and as they walked inside, Alfons thought of ways he could escape sitting next to her without seeming rude. He couldn't come up with any and he found dread pooling in his stomach as the two of them got closer to the back rows.

Alfons kept his eyes on the floor, feeling all but defeated then he heard Lyra's voice.

"Umm…that's my seat." she sounded peeved but hesitant, almost intimidated and Alfons lifted his eyes from the floor to see who she was talking to.

Edward was sitting two rows from where he usually did, in the seat Lyra sat in yesterday and he looked up at Lyra with a bored expression, chin cradled on his hand.

"I don't see your name on it." he drawled, raising an eyebrow as if daring her to contradict him.

Lyra looked like she wanted to gripe but said nothing. She turned to Alfons, to tell him they should sit somewhere else he assumed but before she could utter a single word, Edward spoke again.

"Hey, Alfons. What're you just standing there for? Sit." Edward said, nodding to the seat next to his.

Secretly relieved, Alfons looked at Lyra apologetically and sat down. She looked astonished though if it was because Edward knew him or because he basically ditched her for him he didn't know. Eventually, Lyra got her expression under control and albeit hesitantly, she walked away to find another seat. As soon as she was gone, Alfons turned to Edward.

"I said I'll save you a seat." Edward said with a shrug.

Though happy with how things turned out, Alfons felt a little guilty about Lyra having to find a new seat. He opened his mouth to say something but Edward cut him off.

"What? Don't pretend you actually liked sitting next to her, I saw your face yesterday."

Alfons shut his mouth. "…Well," he started.

"And besides, her pride would be fine, one guy getting away wouldn't kill her."

Alfons opened his mouth, closed it and shrugged. "Thanks." he whispered.

All throughout class, people kept turning to look at him and Edward, reminding Alfons of the people at lunch as they observed them with expressions of astonishment. However, Alfons couldn't find it in himself to pay much attention to them because most of his focus was on the strange, fascinating boy sitting next to him.

* * *

Chapter 2, done ^^

Stay tuned for chapter 3!

Btw guys, I'm still looking for an available Beta to polish up my grammar mistakes, everyone I ask is either busy or out of the country enjoying the last few weeks of summer T^T. If anyone is interested, kindly PM me, thank you.

New characters are always so fascinating to add in. And in case you missed them, here are the fma characters I put in this chapter:

Lt. Maria Ross

Dietlinde Echkart

Sig Curtis(Izumi sensei's husband)

and of course, Russell Tringham and Lyra

I wonder if people still remember Russell Tringham, you know that blond dude who pretended to be Edward? I made him the president of the environment club because the alchemy he used seemed to mainly involve plants.

And Lyra, ugh, I don't like her (though I did feel a bit sorry for her when Dante stole her body and killed her) so I gave her the role of the persistent flirt who just wouldn't get a clue and leave. And yes, you will be seeing more of her, her and Russell are my satirical counterparts to Mike Newton and Eric. Oh and Rose is in there too, as an insignificant little life saver XD

Reviews would be wonderful, ^^

See you all next time


	3. Chapter 3

Hello again u guys! I forgot to mention, in the last chapter, Ed's weird car is an allusion to brotherhood, specifically episode 44, where they showed us Ed's definition of "cool" when it came to cars XD. Watch it again if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, here's chapter 3 :) enjoy.

* * *

Edward sat next to him every day after that and though he saw Lyra eyeing him more than once from her new seat next to the girl with pink bangs (Alfons found out her name was Rose) she never approached him. The incredulous stares continued and Alfons noticed that he was more prone to them during lunch and History, whenever he was with Edward. Edward seemed to not even notice the stares and looks of wonder constantly directed at them but when he asked him about it, the other blond just shrugged and said.

"You're the only one who has the guts to talk to me. Let them stare, they'd get tired of it eventually."

He seemed completely unaffected by the whole thing and eventually, Alfons managed to ignore the staring as well. Edward said that he got stared at a lot, even in his old school and he got used to it. Alfons couldn't help but agree, because as he spent more time with Edward, he stopped finding anything plain or ordinary about him. Not just in his looks; which seemed to grow more and more appealing to Alfons everyday, but in his personality and actions as well.

He didn't know why people were afraid of Edward, he was actually really nice… once you get past his strangeness. He was really smart but teenage societal norms seemed completely void to him. He never seemed to interact with anyone other than Alfons himself, he was straightforward yet vague, he did things and spoke without thinking it completely through first. That's why more often than not, he could be complimenting him and Alfons wouldn't even know it, like the time when he said Alfons' glasses were "un-nerdy like." (He figured out that it was supposed to be a compliment the night after Edward said it, when he was lying awake in his bed suffering from a small bout of insomnia.) He wore his glasses as often as he could after that.

Life outside school was going well too; as time passed he began to see the Mustangs and Grandpa Grumman as much of a family as the Armstrongs were. Uncle Alex continued to write everyday (Alfons had finally told him to cut down on the emails and it took longer than Alfons expected but he eventually obliged) and as for Alons' health…well nothing too bad had happened yet, he suffered from chest pains, coughing fits, and dizzy spells several times but other than that, he was ok. He never felt bad enough to stay home and lay in his bed all day.

He continued to get attention from a decent percentage of the female population of the school and he continued ignoring said attention as best as he could. A few senior girls had bravely attempted to ask him out but Alfons politely turned them down.

If he only had the guts to tell them all that they were barking up the wrong tree and get lost, life would be so much easier. Unfortunately he was raised respect women and he would never do that.

Alfons eventually joined the science club (Much to Russell's enthusiasm) after Grandpa Grumman told him to go make more friends. He told him that he hung out with Edward and Grandpa Grumman was happy about it but he said that several friends are always better than one. And though he was quite content with only Edward for company, he had to agree. Sure he liked Edward, a lot but he wasn't _obsessed_ with him.(A/N: _yet. _just you wait Alfons XD)

It turned out that joining the science club had been a good idea after all because aside from Russell's constant presence and almost pushy kindliness, Alfons found himself actually enjoying the company of the science club's members. Most of them were seniors just like him but there are a few people from the other grades as well, like Russell's brother Fletcher who was in grade nine.

They only met on occasion, whenever there was an event in the school that required their participation and Alfons couldn't have picked a better time to join them. October was Halloween month of course and the science club (which also doubled as the school's tech club) were assigned the task of helping out with the upcoming Halloween dance and helping out on the 31st, which was basically an ordinary school day except out of tradition, people come to school in Halloween costumes, a pumpkin carving contest would be held during the three lunch periods and school life would be completely Halloween-y.

Needless to say, there was quite a bit of work resting on their shoulders and the club agreed to meet twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The dance was happening before the 31st and so that was their priority, they were in charge of the lights and the sound system and in every meeting they discussed where to put what, arguing and rearranging their plans over and over as everybody argued on the position of the power outlets in the gym and how many extension chords they would need depending on how they placed the equipment.

"I'm telling you Russell, the turn tables and the speakers should be close to the door, there are 4 power outlets there. Every other place has only 2."

Winry Rockbell, a pretty girl with wide blue eyes and long blonde hair said as she poked Russell on the shoulder.

"And I'm telling _you_ Winry, there's a bigger risk of people tripping on the wires if we put them there." Russell replied, rolling his eyes and flipping his bangs; a thing he usually did when he was exasperated.

Winry sighed heavily. "Alfons." she half called, half whined making it sound more like 'Alfoooons' Alfons looked up from where he was staring out the window absently and turned to Winry with a questioning look.

"Make him see sense please? Help me out here." Winry said.

Winry was the first of his new friends; she approached him first and introduced herself as Pinako's grand daughter. Like Edward, she was also aware that he went to Germany and went back this year to finish high school here and also like Edward, she didn't know why. He gave her the same excuse he gave Edward and she respected his privacy and didn't ask the specifics. She was cheerful and nice (if you don't provoke her, in which case she could be quite ruthless) and she was into cars and robotics, which wasn't a far cry from Alfons own fascination with engines and machinery. Apropos to their similar interests and personalities they instantly became friends.

Alfons laughed lightly and shook his head. "Sorry Winry, I don't like getting in between arguments."

Winry pouted at him. "Oh c'mmon, we all know he'd listen to anything you'd say."

Alfons resisted the urge to sigh as Russell innocently looked away and pretended to talk to a bespectacled brunette named Sheska.

Apparently, Russell was openly bi-sexual and to Alfons' chagrin, Russell's interest in him was a secret to no one in the science club. (The rest of the school he wasn't so sure but he didn't wanna know.) And to his extreme embarrassment, some of the girls in the club actually found it _cute_.

How did Russell even know that he swung that way? Was it that obvious? Or did he really just didn't care? Alfons inwardly sighed and outwardly laughed as he shook his head at Winry. Her lower lip jutted out even more but she didn't ask again.

He turned his head back to the window when she turned back to Russell.

The trees outside were almost completely stripped of their leaves now and their branches shook as if shuddering from the frigid temperatures. Alfons internally frowned, it would be freezing outside and he'd have to stand out there waiting for the bus after science club was done. He sighed, he wondered if he'd regret asking Roy and Riza not to wait up for him.

* * *

Eventually, science club ended for the day and Alfons found himself walking as slowly as he could as he went to get his coat out of his locker, trying to delay going outside for as long as he could. He should be used to the cold really, having grown up in Germany and all but ever since he fell ill, he had been a lot less fond of it.

Alfons was already several feet away from the exit in the cafeteria that led to the parking lot when Russell caught up with him.

"Alfons! Hey, wait up!"

Alfons stopped walking and turned, seeing Russell running toward where he was.

"What is it?" Alfons asked as Russell came to a stop in front of him.

"Are you taking the bus?" Russell asked.

Alfons nodded and Russell beamed. "So am I, c'mmon I'll walk with you."

Alfons wanted to decline but could come up with no decent excuse to get away from Russell. So, he hesitantly followed, all the while thinking maybe it was finally time he told him he wasn't interested. He never really liked telling his admirers to basically buzz off but Russell was a guy, hopefully he'd take it like one and besides it was better to circumvent the problem now before it got worse and he be accused of leading him on.

"Thanks again for joining the club by the way. And that's not just from me, everyone is happy to have you there." Russell said as he pushed the double doors of the exit open. Alfons smiled but said nothing.

"Are you going to the dance by any chance?"

"No." Alfons immediately blurted out. "U-unless I _have_ to be there, you know to make sure the lights and sound system are working properly. Does the entire club have to be there? Or can a handful of people manage?" he added, hoping the answer would be the second one. He hated dances, that's when the girls struck, asking him left and right if he would dance with them.

"Oh." Russell said, trying to look like Alfons' answer didn't bother him. He mostly succeeded but Alfons caught a glimpse of disappointment in his eyes. Only then did Alfons figure out what he must've been up to and gave himself a pat on the back for his answer.

"Well I know a few people who would go anyway, I guess I could just ask them to take turns checking on the tech. We'll see how things go. After all, the dance is still a week and a half away. If we need you there, I'll let you know ASAP."

Alfons nodded once, fair enough. At least he didn't try to convince him to go just for the sake of going or to go with _him_.

"So, have you decided what you'd wear on Halloween?"

Russell asked, changing the subject. Alfons went along with it, wanting to get as far away from the topic of the dance as far as possible.

"No. I think I'll just go in normal clothes." Alfons replied. They were halfway through the parking lot now and as they walked, autumn leaves drifted by, catching Alfons' attention with their bright, pretty colors. He turned his eyes to the nearest tree, an average maple and found himself raising his eyebrows as he spotted somebody sitting at it's base, leaning against it's sturdy bark.

Who would sit out here in the middle of October? The person was wearing a white long sleeved shirt and a red vest and they had the hood of the vest pulled up so Alfons couldn't see their face but whoever they were, Alfons found himself worrying that they may freeze to death under that tree if they stayed there.

Russell started saying something then but Alfons barely heard what he said because the person chose that moment to turn his head slightly in their direction, exposing long, cornsilk blond bangs under the faux fur lining of his hood. They were close enough to him to be heard and without even having to think about it, Alfons called out.

"Edward?"

Edward turned his head further so he was fully facing them; his expression was bored and unsurprised, almost as if he expected them to be there.

"What are you doing out here?" Alfons asked.

Beside him, Russell snorted. "I know what he'd be on the 31st, the girls would all have a field day when he comes to school with fake fangs, dyed hair and covered in glitter." he muttered. The last part of his sentence made no sense to Alfons but in relation to the fangs, he assumed he was referring to Edward Cullen. (He really needed to pick up a Twilight and see what everyone's been on about)

Edward stood up and walked over to them, Alfons saw that he was holding a book in one hand.

"Reading. Then I fell asleep."

Alfons raised an eyebrow. "Fell asleep? Out _here_? What were you thinking? You could've gotten sick!"

he scolded mildly. Edward just rolled his eyes as if the idea was completely ridiculous.

"Why are you still here, where's coach Hawkeye and her good for nothing husband?" Edward asked.

He had told him that Riza was his cousin sometime ago and Edward surprised him by wrinkling his nose in distaste. He had asked him if he had a problem with Riza and Edward responded with a no. It turned out that he wasn't Roy's biggest fan…to put it nicely, though as to why; Alfons was yet to find out.

"I had to stay behind for science club and I asked them to go home without me." Alfons answered.

Edward had an 'I see' expression on his face, then his golden eyes spotted Russell and he frowned.

"And what are you doing here princess?" he asked snidely, raising an eyebrow at Russell.

Russell's eyebrow twitched. "_We_ were just on our way to the bus stop, so if you could kindly screw off Elric, Alfons and I don't wanna miss the bus."

Edward smirked. "_You're_ taking the bus? What happened to the brand new convertible your mommy got you? I would think taking the bus would be too much for your delicate sensibilities."

Due to his looks and hair, Russell had a slight reputation of being effeminate and Edward's words seemed to have struck a nerve. Russell's eyebrow twitched again and for a second he looked like he wanted to yank off the braid resting on Edward's shoulder, then he forced his features to appear unaffected and he smirked.

"My car is at the auto shop, getting repaired, it broke down the other day. And _I_ would think that _you_ have more delicate sensibilities than I do, considering people compare you to a pretty, sparkling something that has the same diet as a flea." Russell said, then his turned his eyes upward and put a finger to his chin in mock realization.

"Oh, come to think of it, that analogy is almost too perfect, considering you're also the same size as a flea."

At the jab to his height, Edward's expression darkened and he looked ready to lunge forward and punch Russell, right in his perfectly straight, elegantly high-bridged nose. However before he could, Alfons chose that moment to butt in. He lifted his wrist to his face and checked the time.

"Um, I think the bus would be here in three minutes." he said.

Russell opened his mouth to say something but Edward cut him off.

"Don't waste your money on the bus, I'll drive you home. Unlike some people, I don't damage my car after only one month of owning it."

Russell looked livid, and he looked like he'd rather get punched by Edward than to let Alfons go with him and he was about to protest but after the first syllable left his mouth, Edward grabbed Alfons' wrist and started dragging him away.

"Um, okay, thanks Edward, umm, see you later Russell." Alfons said as he got towed away like a child, waving briefly and turning away from a disgruntled and surprised Russell. He felt a little bad about leaving Russell there right in the middle of the parking lot but as they got further away from him, Alfons found himself unable to focus on anything else other than the feel of Edward's hand on his wrist.

His fingers were clamped under the hem of Alfons' sleeve and they were cold, heck they were downright _freezing_, Alfons could feel just how cold they were even through the barrier of his thick wool glove.

"Your hand is so cold, really, why did you choose to fall asleep _outside_ of all places?" Alfons asked.

Edward turned to him while still continuing to drag him and waved a hand in dismissal. "Oh let it go Al, I'm not going to get sick." he said offhandedly.

Alfons blinked. "Al?"

Edward actually looked surprised at himself, then he shook his head. "Sorry, you have the same name as my brother. Well, almost, his name is Alphonse with ph not f and an e at the end, I always used to call him Al."

Alfons' surprise was temporary, the fact that Edward had a brother who had the same name as him was completely over shadowed by something else.

_Used to_, did that mean…?

"Is he," Alfons began hesitantly, but he didn't need to finish because Edward answered.

"He died a long time ago too." he said, making Alfons remember the conversation they had the first time they sat together at lunch, when Edward mentioned his mother. Alfons nodded and stayed silent until they made it to Edward's unusual, patchwork car.

Again, Alfons found himself baffled by it's appearance, wondering where on earth Edward managed to find it. Did he make it himself?

"That's a really…unusual car…where'd you get it?" Alfons asked as Edward unlocked the doors and opened the passenger's side, gesturing with his head for Alfons to get in. Alfons slid into the soft gray passenger's seat and buckled his seatbelt in while Edward walked around the car to get into the driver's seat.

"I bought the car off of my Dad's friend. It was pretty old but it still worked so I convinced him to sell it to me and just fixed it to make it look better." Edward said as he got in and shut the door behind him.

A tiny voice in Alfons' mind worried at the things that could be said of Edward's psyche if this was his idea of "better" and was even more alarmed at the things that could be said of his own if Edward was his idea of attractive. He told it to shut up.

"What were you doing with Russell Tringham?" Edward asked as they pulled out of the parking lot, expression peeved. Alfons wondered what Russell had ever done to Edward for him to act like that.

"He's the president of the science club, he was talking to me about some stuff and since we were both taking the bus, he decided to walk with me." Alfons answered, unconsciously rubbing his hands over his arms, the inside of the car was almost as cold as the frigid air outside.

Edward seemed to notice him and turned on the heater, turning it up to the highest setting after two minutes.

"You're in the science club?" he asked, giving Alfons a sidelong glance before turning his amber eyes back to the road.

"Yeah. You should join actually, there are some really nice people there. Plus we could really use someone like you." Alfons replied.

Edward was taking Chemistry this semester and he was taking Biology and Physics in the next, if he was taking all three sciences in the same year, he was bound to have something in common with the people in science club. Plus he was more than smart enough to be in it.

Edward made a face. "I don't get along well with people."

"You seem to get along well enough with me." Alfons pointed out, inwardly smiling as he realized the truth of his own statement.

There was a small pause as Edward's expression shifted into a contemplative one. Then he answered in a soft tone.

"I guess so…You and Mr. Grumman still live in the duplex with the blue doors right?"

"Yeah."

Edward nodded and continued driving. He seemed to know exactly where to go and didn't ask more questions. They sat together in silence for a few minutes before the silence slowly got to Alfons and he just had to say something.

"Do people really dress up in costumes on the 31st?" he asked,

"Yeah, they do. Why?" Edward said, glancing at him sideways again.

"I don't know isn't it a bit…childish?" Alfons asked.

Edward shrugged. "Half of our school is made up of hyper energetic whackos, what else would you expect?"

Alfons laughed, knowing he was referring to all the theatre people and the disgustingly cheerful announcement team who were just _too_ happy to welcome people to school every morning.

"I guess so. Are you dressing up for Halloween?"

Edward looked like Alfons just called him short. "Hell no! Why on earth would I spend money on something as dumb as a Halloween costume? Besides, I don't think there's anything or anyone out there that isn't too stupid to imitate."

A thought suddenly occurred to Alfons then and he had been hearing of it a lot for some time now that before his mind can stop him, he was already talking.

"You can dress up as Edward Cullen?"

The car stopped so suddenly, it was a good thing they were slowing down near a stop sign when it happened. Edward turned to him with a glare so dark, Alfons actually felt himself scoot away before he could think about it.

"Do. Not. Ever. Say. That. Again. _Ever_."

Alfons raised his hands in defense and laughed uneasily. "Ok, ok. I'm sorry, calm down."

Edward scoffed and when the car started moving again, they went twice the speed they were going before they stopped.

"I don't even know why people compare me to that twinkling nerd-fantasy-fuel Ken doll. So what if I have the same name? Dammit that doesn't mean anything, I actually know how to use a comb, I do not watch people while they sleep like a creepy would be rapist, I do not play the piano, I do not speak _or_ act like a stoned, PMS-ing version of Romeo, I-."

Edward continued ranting for an impressively long time and Alfons wondered, with the intensity of his ranting how he managed to keep enough concentration to drive properly. He must've been keeping it in the whole time and had no one to vent it to. When Edward finally got it all off his chest, Alfons made a mental note never to mention Twilight or Edward Cullen in his presence again.

"Can I ask you something?" Alfons asked a bit warily, seconds after Edward's rant.

"Does it involve vampires in any way?" Edward asked with a small glare.

Alfons laughed. "No. It's just something I forgot to ask earlier."

Edward seemed to think that over for a second, then he nodded. "Alright, ask away."

"You don't like Russell very much do you?" Alfons asked.

Edward snorted. "I don't really like anybody very much, but him I dislike even more."

Alfons laughed again. "Why?"

Edward wrinkled his nose as he answered. "He was my lab partner during sophomore year and he was such a cocky, annoying, smart-ass bastard, I just couldn't stand him. We were partners for a total of three days before our teacher got too scared we'd kill each other, she changed our partners."

Alfons nodded and let out a soft. "Oh."

They were silent for a few minutes, then as if on autopilot, Alfons mind strayed to a bit of their conversation and pondered over it, connecting it to some words he had said earlier.

"Am I an exception to that rule?" he asked

"What rule?" Edward asked back.

"The you don't like anyone rule." Alfons said, suddenly nervous about Edward's answer. What if he said 'No, you're just less annoying than the rest of them.' or something like that?

"Well, yeah. I guess so." Edward replied casually, as if it was obvious.

Alfons blinked and a split second after Edward answered, a wide smile spread across his face. The tiny, tiny little thing in Alfons' subconscious called pride just swelled two sizes as he realized for the second time that day that Edward actually liked his company and possibly _only_ his company. There were 1500 people in the school so Edward should have at least a few other friends but Alfons was giddy with the knowledge that out of the hundreds of people in central, he was one of if not the only person Edward mingled with.

* * *

Alfons stumbled into the bathroom, one arm held up in front of his mouth and coughing like he was hacking up a lung. After Edward dropped him off, a headache assaulted him out of nowhere and he had been feeling considerably ill since then. He had been in the middle of doing homework when he got attacked by an extra strong coughing fit. He rummaged his school bag for his pills for a bit before remembering that he needed syrup not pills to relieve coughing.

He immediately went over to the medicine cabinet and yanked it open, quickly searching for the bottle of his cough syrup and grabbing it as soon as he was sure it was the right one. He moved to unscrew the lid but just as his fingers touched it, he felt the sputum rising up his throat. He bent over the sink as the coughing reached it's worst and he almost choked as he spat out blood and mucus.

Alfons took a few raspy breaths before turning on the tap and rinsing his mouth, gargling the water to get the taste of blood out of his mouth. After everything had been washed down the sink, he unscrewed the bottle he still had in his hand and drank straight from it, not even bothering to get the tiny plastic medicine cup stored in one corner of the medicine cabinet. He wrinkled his nose at the taste and shook his head as he felt the syrup slide down his throat. He coughed a few more times before the syrup slowly took effect, the coughing subsided until it slowly disappeared and after it was completely gone, Alfons sighed and placed the syrup bottle back in the medicine cabinet. He reached up to close it and paused when he saw his reflection in the mirror.

Did he get even paler? It seemed like it.

He was so pasty and sallow it was almost kinda creepy. You'd think he was a vampire or something.

Alfons blinked as he remembered the drive home with Edward, when he suggested that Edward dressed up as a popular vampire. He found himself smiling slightly as he recalled how ticked off Edward had gotten. It was weird but, Edward was actually kind of cute when he was ranting.

Alfons shook his head goodness, he was _smitten,_ he couldn't even remember the last time he had crushed on someone this much.

He paid attention to his reflection again and put his hands to his face, dragging them over his cheeks. The movement pulled at the skin under his eyes and Alfons blinked as he zeroed in on them.

He was still wearing his glasses and he scrutinized them intently, wondering how they change anything at all about his face. They were simple, rectangular glasses with a thin, silver frame and he looked just as he always had with them on. Or at least he did to himself. He tilted his head, trying to look closer for something he may be missing. If Edward, Russell and Lyra all saw it, then it had to be there right?

Well, the silver frame did sort of bring out the blue of his eyes and his pale skin did kinda go with the silver, not to mention helped in making his eyes stand out as well. Other than that however, he seemed pretty normal. Alfons pursed his lips and shrugged. Oh well, how you see yourself is always different from how other people see you.

"Alfons!"

Grandpa Grumman's voice called out from downstairs. Alfons closed the medicine cabinet and walked out into the hall. He leaned over the balustrade and called back.

"Yeah?"

"Can you come down here for a little bit?"

"Ok."

Alfons called as he began making his way downstairs. He wondered what Grandpa Grumman needed. The living room was empty when he got downstairs so he headed to the kitchen. Sure enough, there was Grandpa Grumman, sitting in the table talking to a middle aged man with blond hair pulled back into a pony tail and rectangular glasses. Both of them turned to him when he walked in and Alfons was struck with a little bout of familiarity when he saw the color and shape of the blond man's eyes.

Pure amber, so bright they were almost gold.

"Hey there Alfons, this is Van Hohenheim, my doctor and Edward's father."

The blond man smiled at him kindly and held out a hand. Alfons smiled back and shook it, jumping a little as his large fingers clasped around Alfons' own, they were freezing, as if he had been holding them in a cooler full of ice before he came in.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Hohenheim sir." Alfons said.

The blond man seemed to notice his reaction and smiled "Nice to meet you too. Just call me Hohenheim, that's what Edward calls me and don't worry about my hand, I was outside for a pretty long time, it is cooold out there." he said, emphasizing the word cold. Alfons nodded. "Ok."

"Van just came over to say hi." Grandpa Grumman said.

"Yes, I even bought a little gift for you two."

Hohenheim said, gesturing to a small wicker basket wrapped in cellophane sitting on the table. Alfons could just make out a bottle of wine and a box of chocolate crammed in under a whole bunch of stuff, the whole thing looked a bit expensive, Alfons had seen gift baskets like it before, whenever friends or business partners visited the Armstrong mansion, they'd always personally hand over a gift basket to Uncle Alex or whoever they were visiting.

"You had perfect timing too. I'm gonna cook Italian food tonight, I'm sure the wine would go well with the pasta." Grandpa Grumman said.

Hohenheim chuckled lightly. "Well then, I'm glad I could've been of service." He then turned to Alfons, his amber eyes observing. Alfons found his own eyes glued to his. This man was definitely Edward's father, his eyes were perfectly copied onto Edward's face, not to mention his hair was the same shade of cornsilk blond.

"I just came here to welcome you back. Your grand dad here hasn't shut up about you since he found out you were coming."

They all shared a light laugh.

"And I wanted to meet the young man that my son's been hanging out with. He hasn't said or done anything rude yet has he?" Hohenheim said.

Alfons laughed. "No sir."

Hohenheim stood. "Well, if he has, let me know and I will personally apologize for him. Anyway, I have to get going, Ed gets a little too creative when he's bored, I need to go make sure he hasn't broken anything in the house."

Alfons couldn't help raising an eyebrow, itching to ask what Edward could possibly do that would result into broken furniture but he said nothing.

"You're sure you couldn't stay for dinner?" Grandpa Grumman asked as he stood.

Hohenheim shook his head. "Maybe some other time." He turned to Alfons. "It was nice meeting you Alfons."

Alfons smiled. "You too."

They walked Hohenheim to the door and stood there waving as he drove away in a shiny black Sedan. After he had gone he and Grandpa Grumman went back inside to get started on dinner.

"Mr. Hohenheim seemed nice."

Alfons commented as he sliced up tomatoes for the pasta. Grandpa Grumman nodded.

"He is. We're very lucky to have him, he's quite a qualified doctor, he could probably go work at any hospital in the entire continent and make thrice as much as he does here but he decided to stay here because he thinks the hospital here needs his help more."

Alfons nodded that was an incredibly noble thing to do. Skilled doctors that prefer to work in small towns to help the lesser people were almost too rare these days. Alfons' brow furrowed, Edward had only ever spoken about his dad when they met and back then he didn't seem to like him at all. Alfons wondered why, Hohenheim seemed like a perfectly kind, decent man.

* * *

It was Thursday when Alfons came home and started feeling ill, he felt fine the entire weekend up to Wednesday but the day after he slowly began feeling ill again. At first it was only headaches and coughing but as the week ended and another one began, he slowly felt worse and worse.

It was Monday, the week before the dance when Alfons almost had to drag himself to school. He was fine enough in the morning, the feeling of being ill came and went but never lasted more than 10 minutes and he thought he could handle school but as the day went on, even the people around him seemed to think he shouldn't have gone to school.

He didn't eat during lunch, food didn't seem appealing at all to his slightly queasy stomach and he felt too weak to get up and buy himself something.

"Hey, are you ok?"

Edward asked as he poked Alfons on the shoulder. Alfons slowly lifted his head from where it was resting on his thick Physics text book and met his worried gaze. Edward was reading as always, he never ate during lunch and he set his book aside to lay a cool palm on Alfons' forehead.

His fingers were cold and they felt nice against his skin.

"Hmm, you don't feel warm, but your skin is kinda clammy, are you feeling ok?"

Alfons gently pushed his hand away. "I'll be fine, I'm just…" He broke off as a series of coughs forced their way out of his throat. "…tired." he rasped after the coughing subsided.

Edward didn't look convinced. "Are you sure? I think you should go home." he said, a little dent forming between his brows.

Alfons waved a hand dismissively. "There's only two periods left, I'll be fine."

The dent between Edward's eyebrows just got deeper. "You don't look like you'll even make it to the end of lunch." he said.

"It's ok Edward, really." he said and to emphasize his point, he forced himself to sit up straight.

Edward frowned and he looked like he was about to argue but before he could, the bell rang. Alfons stood, cringing internally at the wave of dizziness that passed by when he did.

"See you." Alfons said over his shoulder as he walked away before Edward can attempt to get him to go home. Of course with the speed he walked, Edward could have jumped up from his seat and drag him back to the table in less than 5 seconds but thankfully, Edward stayed where he was and Alfons made it all the way to Physics without incidents.

However half way through class, Alfons found himself wondering if he should've listened to Edward after all. His head felt like his brain was squishing itself against his skull and it hurt so much he could barely focus on anything. Ms. Eckhart's voice was just a faint drone in his ears, her words were fairly understandable but Alfons could barely comprehend what she was talking about. Russell asked him several times if he was ok and Alfons through quite a bit of effort managed to smile through the pounding in his head and assure him that he was ok.

When class ended and he made it to History without fainting or leaning on Russell for support (he didn't know which would have been more embarrassing), Alfons thought that perhaps he _could_ make it through the whole day after all.

"Alfons seriously, go to the nurse or just go home." Russell said as they stood in front of Alfons' History class.

"It's just one more period, I swear I'll go straight home afterward." Alfons said, waving a hand in dismissal. He made it this far, he might as well finish the whole day.

Russell frowned. "Ok…if you say so."

Alfons smiled at him and before Russell could change his mind about letting him go, he turned and walked inside the room.

Edward was doodling on an open notebook when he got to his usual seat and he looked up when Alfons sat down. One glance was all it took before he was frowning worriedly, that little dent forming between his eyebrows again. Alfons smiled at him and mouthed "I'm okay."

Edward didn't say anything but the worried/disapproving look on his face didn't ease up one bit.

15 minutes later, Alfons found himself slumped over his desk, head buried in his folded arms. His glasses were loosely clasped in one of his hands, they were only making his headache worse so he took them off. The sounds of the classroom were all reduced to a fuzzy drone as if he was underwater and the rest of the class was above him. He yawned. He felt so tired…and why did he wear a wool turtle neck sweater today? It was boiling in here.

Alfons yawned again, cringing when the action caused a slight throb in his already aching head. Maybe he should rest for a few minutes…yeah, maybe he'd feel better afterward.

* * *

_Alfons_

_Alfons_

"Alfons!"

Alfons' eyes blinked awake. He had been dreaming of floating or something close to it. It felt like he was leaning on something cold as he floated but it didn't feel like whatever it was he was leaning on was moving and dragging him along with it.

His vision slowly as one by one, his senses started returning. His sense of touch made it back before his sight and he register a cold palm pressed against his fore head before he saw the plain gray roof of a car's interior.

"Hey, you awake?"

Alfons groaned as the headache and awful feeling of being sick returned full force. Why couldn't he have stayed unconscious? Wait, he was unconscious? And who was…that voice was familiar...

"Edward?" he asked, turning his head to the side, trying to find just a hint of long, blond hair or gold eyes.

"You still have a fever, do you think you could walk?"

The hand on his forehead disappeared and Alfons groaned, wishing to have that comforting coldness against his skin. He sat up straight. "What happened?" he asked. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in class.

"You had your head down and I didn't realize you were unconscious until your glasses fell to the floor. I checked your temperature and you were fucking _burning_. I told Curtis that you had a fever and you passed out and he told me to take you to the nurse's office. No one was there when I got there so I just went to the main office, told them you needed to go home and drove you home." Edward explained, brushing his fingers against the side of Alfons' neck.

Edward 'Tsk'ed "Pretty bad fever…I _told_ you, you should've gone home." he admonished.

Alfons blinked and looked out the window of Edward's car. Yup, they were parked in front of his house.

"Umm…thank you?" Alfons said, wondering how Edward managed to drag him to the nurse's office, to the main office and out to his car.

Edward sighed. "Can you walk to your door or do I have to carry you again?" he asked.

Alfons shook his head. "I can walk." He reached for the door handle and began coughing uncontrollably before he could pop it open. He clenched his eyes shut, praying to whatever higher power existed up there that he wouldn't hack up blood here and when he opened them again, he was surprised to find the door already open and Edward standing there, holding out a hand.

"It's ok, I can walk, I swear." Alfons said, embarrassed, he felt like a 10 year old.

Edward didn't listen to him and to Alfons' shock, grabbed his hand, turned around and pulled Alfons up onto his back as if he _were_ a ten year old. He hooked his arms under Alfons' legs and Alfons yelped in surprise, barely managing to throw his arms around Edward's neck before he fell back.

"Edward! Put me down, I can walk!" he squawked, although some tiny, tiny part of him was enjoying the close contact, the bigger, more dignified part of him found this beyond embarrassing.

"Better safe than sorry." Edward said casually, without even the slightest hint of strain in his voice, as if Alfons weighed little more than an average backpack. He began walking toward the house and Alfons was reminded of his floating dream as they moved.

Alfons swayed on his feet, hit by a wave of vertigo when Edward finally set him down, in front of his door. However this time, Edward didn't try to carry him again, much to his relief. He unlocked the door and asked Edward if he'd like to come in out of courtesy.

Edward snorted softly. "Just go up to your room and sleep Alfons. Before I drag you up there myself."

* * *

The fever didn't let up and neither did the coughing and just before Grandpa Grumman managed to drag him to a doctor, Alfons realized that it was only pneumonia. It happened a few times before and Alfons assured him that it was only part of his other, greater Lung disease and it would pass eventually. He stayed home for the rest of the week but just as he predicted, the pneumonia was only temporary and it was mostly gone by Friday.

"How are you doing?" Grandpa Grumman asked as he entered the room, carrying a paper bag in his hand.

"I'm doing ok. I'll definitely be able to go to school on Monday." Alfons answered from where he was lying comfortably on his bed, propped up against the headboard and swathed in blankets.

Grandpa Grumman nodded. "I dropped by the book shop today for some more books to read and I got some that might interest you." he said, moving closer to Alfons' bed and laying the paper bag on it.

"Wow, thanks." Alfons said as he peeked into the bag.

"You're welcome, I hope you like them. Dinner would be ready in an hour okay?"

Grandpa Grumman replied, already walking out the door. Alfons smiled and called out an "Ok." to him. He reached into the bag and pulled out three paperback books. He laid them out side by side on his bed. The first two looked like mystery novels, and the third one…

Alfons raised his eyebrows as he stared down at the black cover of the third book. It was blank save for a pair of hands cradling a blood red apple. Above the hands, the word Twilight was printed in silver letters. Gingerly, Alfons picked it up and flipped through the pages. Well, he had been meaning to read it, sort of and hey, it'd be nice to finally figure out all the references people were making when they relate Edward to Edward Cullen.

Still mostly bed-ridden, Alfons began the book Friday night after dinner and finished it on Saturday.

The story was fast paced, almost too much and it seemed like a grammatical error bomb had gone off and scattered misplaced words and punctuation marks everywhere. All in all, the story was ok but the characters needed serious work and more depth, especially Bella Swan. Also, Stephenie Meyer could've really cut back on all of Bella's creepily obsessive behavior and cheesy descriptions of Edward's face, eyes, movements and smell. Too much is too much.

On the bright side, he finally knew why people saw Edward as Edward Cullen. Same name, gold eyes, pale skin, doctors for fathers. However despite the similarities, Alfons couldn't help but feel that everything was backward. In terms of personality, Edward Elric was closer to the polar opposite of Edward Cullen's rather than Cullen himself.

Alfons sighed as he gazed at the paperback copy of Twilight on his desk.

Come to think of it, his life had a very slight similarity to the book. He was born in a small town, he grew up in a big city somewhere else, he goes back, meets a hot guy named Edward and now that he thought about it, Edward taking him home when he was sick was almost similar to that part in the book where Bella almost passed out in class and Edward came to her rescue.

Would starting a romance with Edward be the next thing to happen?

An image of Edward sparkling in the sun and wearing classy designer clothes while saying "And so the lion fell in love with the lamb" popped up in his mind and before he could help himself, he was practically howling with laughter.

* * *

Yeah, you laugh all you want 'fons, you _will_ be subjected to romance from Edward (no matter how unconventional) wether you like it or not! :D Aaaand yeah, that mental image is hilarious XD.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello, hello! How is everybody doing? I am back with chapter 4!

I'm not that confident with it but hopefully you guys would like it.

*fingers crossed*

* * *

When he returned to school, people welcomed him back with open arms. Even the teachers(or is that _especially _the teachers? well, it shouldn't surprise him really, considering they're all well aware of how much worse that simple bout of pneumonia could have been), save for Ms. Eckhart who demanded he catch up on what he had missed in the week he was gone, _by himself_ , as in without any help from her even though she was the _teacher_ and _she_ taught the lessons he missed. Never mind that he suffered from one of the worse symptoms of the cancer that was killing him or that it was her job to teach her students. Not only that, she also took away marks for the assignments that were given and handed in on the week that he was absent.

Alfons very rarely got mad and even more rarely did he get mad at adults who were superior to him. Respect was a trait that was practically ingrained in his bones and he was also raised to believe that adults would always hold more power than him because they had years of experience and knowledge in their possession.

However, he did also grow up under the watchful eyes of a woman who could take on an entire battalion of experienced fighters and win, her name was Olivier Mira Armstrong and if nothing else, she had taught him when to know when people were walking all over him out of their own cruel pleasure.

And if Ms. Eckhart wasn't doing that to him now, then he'd personally ask Aunt Olivier to fly over to Stratford and smack the sense out of him.

He fumed silently in his seat next to Russell, his light eyebrows pulled down over his eyes into a glare that could've rivaled Edward's glares whenever someone mocked his height. He wanted desperately to focus his glare on the source of his agitation but Ms. Eckhart would probably notice and make his life even worse. She stood in front of the class, looking as haughty as ever and Alfons wanted nothing more than for a piece of the ceiling to cave in and hit her on the head or something worse. He looked around at the other people sitting in the room and was comforted by the knowledge that not a single one of them liked her anymore than he did. When he first came here maybe he would've been the exception to that, well, Ms. Eckhart just made sure she lost the only person who had a grain of respect for her in this room.

"She is such a bitch, who does she think she is?"

As if voicing his thoughts, Russell whispered, low enough for only him to hear but loud enough that he heard the disdain in his voice.

Like she had done to many others, Ms. Eckhart had screwed Russell over too and Russell being the head of the science club had taken monumentally great offense. He was one of the several who would honestly like nothing more than to smash her car or torch her house and after Alfons told him what she told him, he got a lot angrier than a third person observer would normally be.

"I know." Alfons muttered. Under normal circumstances, he would've reprimanded Russell for swearing but they were talking about Eckhart, if he weren't so used to not swearing, he himself would've used far more colorful words than anyone would've thought he was capable of using.

"She's so unfair. I swear, she just does this to us so she could feel high and mighty." Russell scoffed. "As if she'd be important if she was a Physics teacher in a small town in the middle of nowhere." he added.

"Yeah, it kinda makes you wish, Cornello hadn't resigned eh?"

Alfons and Russell turned to the boy sitting in front of them. Apparently, Russell's whispers hadn't been low enough. The boy in front of them had short black hair, gelled up into orderly spikes and his large glasses reflected the light slightly when he turned in their direction. Alfons vaguely remembered his name to be Kain Fuery.

Russell scoffed. "Yeah. I would take Cornello over Eckhart any day, hell, I'd even pay to have him as my teacher."

"Who's Cornello?" Alfons asked, curious.

"Cornello was an old science teacher, he taught Chemistry last year and word was he was supposed to teach Physics this year but he resigned. After that, they picked this bitch" Russell paused to nod his head slightly in Ms. Eckhart's direction. "-from some corner of hell and unleashed her on us." he finished.

Alfons was pretty sure he would've preferred anyone over Ms. Eckhart and though he never knew this Cornello, he found himself wishing he was their teacher as much as Russell and Kain did.

"Why did he leave?" Alfons asked.

Kain checked to see if Eckhart was paying any attention to them and turned back to them when he saw that she wasn't. "Well, Cornello wasn't exactly the nicest teacher in the world. Everyone knew he was out to get the department head fired so he could replace him, though how he planned to do that, no one knew because he wasn't the smartest teacher in the world either. He got on Edward Elric's nerves one time and Edward showed him up by pointing out all the mistakes in his lesson on covalent bonds and calling him a third-rate bastard who would never get a promotion in front of the whole class."

Alfons blinked as a new subject got dragged into the discussion. "Edward was the reason he left?"

Russell snorted. "One of the few good things he actually managed to do. A lot of people owe him their gratitude for that but Cornello leaving only bought us Eckhart so I should say we owe him a punch in the mouth instead."

Ms. Eckhart called on Kain for an answer then and Alfons and Russell quickly straightened in their seats, pretending that they've been listening to her the whole time.

Now that he thought about it, he recalled Roy telling him something about a Chemistry teacher resigning because of a student. He had no idea that the "loud-mouthed punk ass" that Roy was talking about was no other than Edward Elric.

* * *

Alfons carried Kain's story with him all the way to History and while Mr. Curtis discussed the great depression, he was busy staring at the blond enigma sitting beside him called Edward Elric out of the corner of his eye.

According to everybody else, Edward was the opposite of nice and anything but friendly but here he was, he had been nothing but nice and friendly to Alfons since he got here and if it weren't for him, Alfons didn't even know what would've happened to him last week. If he wasn't friendly then why else would he have bothered to carry Alfons all over the school just to tell admin that he was sick? Heck, why would he even have bothered to befriend Alfons in the first place?

Did he really only act that way around Alfons?

If so, why?

Not that he was complaining but he really was puzzled by it. Was it because Alfons was the only one who actually tried to befriend Edward? No, based on the almost longing way he had seen some girls stare at him whenever he walked in the halls, he was pretty sure people had approached Edward before. What made Alfons different that he was the only one Edward seemed to act that way towards?

Alfons frowned as he took his own feelings into consideration. He still liked Edward as a friend and more and the recent incident involving his brief bout of pneumonia only caused him to like him even more.

His point of view on romantic relationships hadn't changed and he had been comforted by the fact that Edward would never see him other than a close friend but his apparent concern, not to mention the constant protective behavior he had taken to doing in Alfons presence ever since he came back to school was slowly deteriorating the security he felt of the attraction being one sided.

Was that it then? Did Edward…_Could_ Edward _possibly_ see Alfons… as Alfons saw him?

He didn't know why but somehow the idea just seemed completely ludicrous to him. And not because he thought Edward was as straight as an arrow, according to Lyra girls and guys had both shown interest in him but as far as Alfons knew, he ignored both genders equally, as if they don't exist. Edward seemed more asexual than straight to him.

"Alfons?"

Alfons blinked when Edward called his name and he turned to face him. "What?" he asked.

"That frown's been on your face for ten minutes straight, are you ok? Are you sick again?" Edward asked with a frown of his own.

Alfons shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

Alfons laughed. "I swear Edward."

Edward pursed his lips for a few seconds but then he shrugged. "Alright, I believe you."

He turned back to staring boredly at the front of the class and Alfons was left staring at the side of his head as he went back to his thoughts.

Edward just didn't seem like the type to be romantically interested in anybody, he didn't even notice anyone enough to be interested in them in a friendly way…except him. Alfons frowned again, what if through some miracle Edward actually did like him that way? What would he do if he knew that Alfons only had a few months to live?

Alfons turned away but kept staring at Edward through his peripheral vision.

His vision of Edward spewing Edward Cullen's lines suddenly popped up in his head and Alfons just found the image so ridiculous, he pursed his lips and it was all he could do not to roar with laughter. Edward and romance were just two things that simply do not mix. Should he ever be forced into a romantic situation, say like stuck in a dark elevator or lost in the middle of nowhere while the stars twinkled brightly in the sky, Alfons knew that he would be more likely to spew something about the theory of relativity or the law of motion than anything romantic.

Pfft, yeah. Edward didn't like him like that; maybe he just acted friendly toward Alfons because he reminded him of his brother. After all, they did have very similar names.

_But still, what would you do __**if **__he actually did?_

A small, hopeful voice whispered in his head and despite his solid belief that Edward didn't and never will like him that way, he answered it.

If he really did then, Alfons would reject him, for both their sakes.

Even if it would most probably hurt.

But Edward didn't and wouldn't like him back so it didn't matter.

* * *

Alfons was quietly doing his homework on the kitchen table when his phone rang.

He had decided to do his homework downstairs for a change and he was perfectly at ease, listening to his seldom used iPod that Uncle Alex got him for his 14th birthday, when it happened.

His phone was on vibrate so he almost didn't notice it but when the table quivered very lightly against his arms, he noticed the lit up screen of his flip up phone and he pulled out one of his earbuds so he could talk.

"Hello."

"_Alfons?_"

"Russell?"

"_Yeah, it's me._"

"Oh, hey. Did you need anything?"

"_Well, you know the dance is tomorrow right?_"

Russell mostly sounded apologetic but still Alfons managed to detect the pleased and excited note in his voice when he spoke.

"Yeah…" he said hesitantly, he had a feeling he wasn't gonna like what Russell would say next.

"_Well two of the people who said they were going just called me to say they can't go. I already called everybody who said they wouldn't go and only Sheska said that she could make an exception. We're still one person short, please tell me you're free tomorrow night."_

Crap. He knew it wasn't gonna be good news.

Alfons scrambled for a good excuse, actually any excuse could've done but his silence alerted Russell.

"_Alfons? I'm begging you c'mmon, the only people going are me, Winry and Sheska._"

Alfons sighed. Darn it, he just knew he was going to regret this.

"Alright…fine. I'm going."

* * *

The next morning, he woke up to annoyingly bright rays of sunlight, the first he had seen in quite a bit. Ever since he came back to Stratford the weather had always been cloudy and occasionally it rained but never did the sun shine like this. Alfons had stood in front of his window, staring blankly at their illuminated lawn and he wondered if fate was mocking him or trying to make him feel better by sending the sun out on the day of the dance.

Well, good or bad, the sun did increase the frigid autumn temperature by a degree or two so he wasn't complaining. He dressed in lighter, thinner clothes and he was in a considerably good mood… until he made it to the school and he remembered that he had to come back tonight and face the dreadful social trap called 'dance'.

He waited impatiently for lunch to come around so he could complain to Edward and perhaps ask him if he was going. (Pfft, as if. He probably wouldn't go even if someone paid him. But still, one can dream.) He thought that the only way he'd feel better about going is if he knew Edward would be there too.

When the bell rang, he rushed off to the cafeteria only to find their usual table completely empty. Alfons looked for him all over the cafeteria, wondering if he decided to change tables for some reason. He moved on to the library when the cafeteria proved to be Edward-free. The library too didn't contain Edward either and he went back to the cafeteria to check again. Before he could make it back to their table however, someone called out to him.

"Alfons!"

Alfons turned and found Winry and Sheska sitting in a nearby table. Winry was waving at him and Sheska glanced up at him shyly from behind her thick glasses before pretending to be engrossed in the salad she was eating.

Alfons waved back and walked over to their table.

"Hey, I didn't know you had this lunch." Alfons said as he came to a stop next to Winry's chair.

Winry grinned up at him. "Me and Sheska just have it today. There was an emergency meeting or something so our teacher let us take lunch A. Who do you usually sit with at lunch?" she asked, pulling Alfons down to the seat next to hers. "You can ask them to join us."

"I'm trying to look for him actually, have you guys seen Edward by any chance?" Alfons asked.

"Edward Elric?" Winry asked, blinking.

"Yeah."

"I don't think he's here today. I'm in his homeroom class, he wasn't there this morning." Winry replied.

"Oh." Alfons murmured, disappointed. Well, there goes the 0.5% chance of salvaging his evening.

"Hmm, well come to think of it, it is sunny today, maybe that's why."

Winry sounded like she was only talking to herself but her words caught Alfons' interest.

"What?" he asked.

"Edward doesn't come to school when it's too sunny. My grandma is friends with his Dad, he says Edward has sensitive skin or something." she laughed. "…Or maybe he really is a vampire."

Alfons laughed, one more point to the similarities between Edward Elric and Edward Cullen. He laughed again when he pictured what Edward's face would look like if he had been with them right then.

"You and him are pretty close huh?" Winry asked casually, spearing some mac and cheese from her plate with her fork and popping it into her mouth.

Alfons shrugged. "I guess."

"What do you mean 'you guess'? Don't you wonder why people always stare at you?" Winry asked, her blue eyes focused on something behind Alfons. Alfons turned around, wondering what she was staring at.

There were a couple of juniors sitting in the table across from them and their eyes were focused solely on Alfons. However, as soon as Alfons turned around, they all conveniently looked away and began talking to each other as if they've been doing it the whole time. Alfons shook his head and turned back around.

"I always thought they stare at me because I'm the new kid from Germany."

"If that really was the reason, don't you think they would've gotten bored of you by now? How many weeks has it been since you came here?" Winry asked, raising an eyebrow.

Alfons' brows furrowed. "Well, what do you think it is?"

"You're the only person Edward Elric has ever sat next to or spoken to voluntarily ever since he came here." Sheska spoke up in a quiet voice, finally looking up from her salad to join the conversation.

"He's been here since sophomore year and ever since then, no one had _ever_ seen him talk to or sit voluntarily next to anyone, until you came along." Winry added.

A strange warmth spread through his spine as the 'does Edward like me?' drawer, tightly shut in his subconscious, rattled noisily.

"And you know people are wondering," Winry began but Sheska cut her off by nudging her with her shoulder.

"Winry." She hissed. "It's non of our business, plus it's rude."

"Oh c'mmon Sheska, I'm sure Alfons wouldn't mind." Winry replied.

Alfons blinked. "What are you guys talking about?"

Sheska turned her attention back to her salad and Winry turned to him with large, curious blue eyes.

"People are wondering, you know, if Edward and Russell's rivalry happened to include you too?"

Alfons tilted his head, feigning ignorance. "Huh?"

Winry sighed and Sheska whispered a pleading "Winry!"

"Is Edward, you know? Are you guys together?"

Alfons was sure glad he wasn't drinking anything then or else he either would've choked on it or he would've sprayed it directly into Winry's face.

"What? No!" he yelped in surprise.

Sheska leaned over to whisper in Winry's ear but Alfons heard her anyway. "I told you it wasn't true."

Winry pouted. "Are you sure?"

Alfons sighed. "Yes."

_Was_ it really_ that_ obvious? Did he unconsciously ooze out gayness or something?

"What makes them even think that Edward swings that way?" he asked. Winry shrugged.

"Well, girls have been swooning over him since ever, he never paid attention to them." she said.

"So? That doesn't really prove anything." Alfons replied, though a small part of him wanted to agree with her wholeheartedly.

Winry opened her mouth to speak but Sheska chose that moment to finally change the subject.

"Winry, have you decided what you're gonna wear tonight?"

Winry paused and turned to her. "Hmm, not yet. You should come to my house after school to help me choose." She then turned to Alfons.

"You're going too right?"

Alfons nodded. "Yeah." He muttered with all the enthusiasm of a wet mop.

* * *

A few hours later, Alfons found himself standing next to his bed, staring down glumly at the clothes he was soon going to wear.

The dance was billed "dressy casual with a tinge of Halloween" whatever the heck that was supposed to look like. He only had a few hours before he had to go face his doom and this was the only clothes he could find in his closet that matched the dress code.

He ran his fingers lightly over the black button down shirt, faded gray jeans, charcoal gray waistcoat and white tie that rested innocently on his covers. He didn't know if he was doing it right, but the outfit looked dressy-casual to him and the dark color scheme should serve as "Halloween-tinged" right? He sighed and turned his eyes to the alarm clock resting on his desk.

5:00

He had 2 hours before the dance starts. He bit his lip, he can't believe he was really gonna go. Why did Edward decide to ditch school today of all days? Of course, not that he would've said he'd go if Alfons asked him to go but still.

_You and him are pretty close huh?_

_You're the only person Edward Elric has ever sat next to or spoken to voluntarily ever since he came here._

Winry and Sheska's words from earlier that afternoon echoed in his head and almost unconsciously, Alfons' eyes strayed to his phone, resting innocently on the bed, next to the black button down shirt.

Well he and Edward were friends at least right? Even if he didn't know that much about him? Maybe if he asked nicely, Edward might consider reducing his misery by going… He bit his lip. Then he turned for his door and ran downstairs. He had to at least try, where was the harm in that right?

Grandpa Grumman wasn't in the living room or the kitchen so he ran down to the basement.

"Grandpa!" he called as he trudged down the stairs.

"Yes?" Grandpa Grumman asked as Alfons reached the bottom of the steps. He was sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn in his lap, in front of him the TV blared with screams and scary music so Alfons assumed he was watching a horror film.

"Do you know Mr. Hohenheim's home phone number by any chance?"

Grandpa Grumman grabbed the remote and lowered the volume a few notches. "Yes, I do, why?"

"I have to ask Edward something."

Thankfully Grandpa Grumman didn't ask exactly what he was intending to ask Edward, Alfons was sure he would've lost his nerve if he had. He told Alfons where to find the little notepad full of numbers of people he knew and Alfons rushed back upstairs to find it.

He sat on Grandpa Grumman's bed, the cordless phone next to his bed pressed against his ear as he dialed the number under Hoenheim V. There was a loose thread on his shirt and he picked at it as he waited for someone to pick up on the other end. The phone rang for a long time and just as Alfons was about to hang up in defeat, there was a click on the other end of the line.

"_Hello?_"

A slightly disgruntled voice asked. The speaker sounded like he was forced to pick up the phone and was fighting the urge to hang up and go back to his life but his voice was so familiar, Alfons could feel nothing but relief.

"Edward?" he asked.

This time the voice was surprised.

"_Alfons? How did you get my number?_"

"My Grandpa had it."

"_Oh. Right. So, why are you calling?_"

Alfons hesitated. Then he took a breath and cut to the chase. "Well, I wanted to ask you if you were going to the dance."

There was a second or two of silence and Alfons practically _heard_ him raise one golden eyebrow.

"_No._"

He sighed. Of course.

"_Why? Are you going?_"

"Yeah." Alfons replied. "Unfortunately." he muttered.

Edward snorted. "_**Why**__?_" he asked, the incredulity in his voice clear, as if he just couldn't fathom why on earth anyone would possibly want to go to a school dance.

He wanted to say "Because Russell was forcing me to" but that wasn't true…technically.

"I have to. Science club is in charge of the lights and sound system, we have to be there to make sure everything is working fine."

"_What, you __**all**__ have to be there?_"

"No. There were four people who were going but two of them cancelled so Russell asked me to go. I didn't have any plans and he said aside from him and two other people, no one else was free so,"

"…_I see._"

"Yeah. Well, sorry for wasting your time."

He was about to hang up, when Edward asked him something.

"_Who are you going with?_"

"Winry Rockbell, Sheska Sinitoski and Russell. Why?"

"_Nothing. Have fun._"

Alfons sighed, for a second there he thought Edward might consider going. Maybe Russell's name repelled him even more.

"Yeah. Bye." Alfons muttered as he hung up.

An hour and a half later, Alfons found himself looking like a kid being forced to go to school on a Saturday as he stood in front of the mirrored doors of the hallway closet. He wore his old black Converses and the cuff bracelet he wore to school that one time to complete his outfit and Alfons pursed his lips as he ran his eyes over his reflection. He had rolled the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows and the contrast between his pale skin and the dark colors he wore was almost striking. His skin was practically bone white.

He frowned, he looked like a zombie that drowned in a frozen lake.

A drowned zombie with nice clothes but a zombie nevertheless. The outfit itself was actually pretty decent and if it weren't mostly black, he would've considered wearing it again.

"For someone who looks strikingly good, you don't look very happy."

Alfons turned to find Grandpa Grumman leaning against the wall as he observed him. Alfons laughed.

"I'm kinda nervous." he said.

"B'aww don't be, the ladies would be falling all over each other to dance with you."

Exactly. That's what he was worried about.

Riza came to drive him to school soon enough and Alfons tried not to look too unwilling as he got in the car. He had hoped that when he asked her if she could drive him to school she'd say no but alas, she didn't seem aware that by helping him get to the dance she might as well be throwing Alfons to a pit full of starved wolves…or cats, yeah, girls were more like cats when they attempt to scratch each other's faces off with their sharp, perfectly manicured nails.

"You look like a rock star in those clothes by the way." Riza complimented him.

Alfons laughed lightly. "Thank You."

They were almost at the school now and Alfons took a deep, resigned breath. Hopefully Winry would let him stick close to her as much as possible and girls would assume she was his date and leave him alone.

"When the dance is over, just call me okay? Me or Roy would come get you right away."

Riza told him as he got out of the car, he ducked back in and thanked her. She smiled. "Have fun."

Alfons smiled back and watched silently as she drove away. He sighed and turned around to face the school. Oh well…let's just get this over with.

* * *

Alfons took a sip of his punch as he observed silently the people dancing in the middle of the gym where the dance was set up. The gym was all Halloween-ed up, covered in fake spider webs, orange and black balloons and crepe papers of similar colors. Tables had been set up with a fairly big empty space in the middle to serve as a dance floor.

He could see Winry from where he sat, she looked lovely in a frilly black and white cocktail dress, strappy high heels and with her hair done up in braids intertwined with black ribbons. A jeweled spider web necklace hung around her neck and it sparkled faintly under the lights as she turned and waved at him. Her date, a tall, mature looking Chinese boy with long black hair saw her waving and turned to wave at Alfons as well. Alfons smiled at them and waved back.

He felt kinda bad that he couldn't remember the boy's name. He and Winry were both nice enough to let her stick to his side for a bit to keep the girls eyeing him away.

A few feet from them, Sheska and Kain Fuery stood, looking awkward but happy as they danced together even though neither of them seemed to be good dancers. Alfons smiled as he watched them. Sheska looked feminine and cute in a short strapless dress and her and Kain look so right together, he didn't think anyone can disagree.

He sighed as he leaned back in his chair. At least they were having fun.

Alfons looked around warily, searching for anyone who might be eyeing him from an empty table or beside a wall, just waiting for the opportunity to drag him to the dance floor. There was an unnaturally blonde girl in a red cocktail dress standing next to the folded bleachers and she winked at him as his eyes passed her. He turned his head in the opposite direction and he spotted a brunette staring at him with a contemplative look on her face, as if she was thinking of what to say. He sighed and dropped his head on the table.

He wondered which one of them would reach him first. The blonde no doubt.

"Hey,"

Someone poked his shoulder and Alfons looked up slowly to see who it was. Well what do you know? A blond did reach him first, it just wasn't the one he was expecting. Russell looked down at him from beneath the rim of his fedora hat and offered him a small smile.

"You look bored to tears, wanna go out for some fresh air?"

Alfons looked at the blonde girl again, she was already walking towards them. It took him a second to decide which was the lesser of two evils, going out alone with Russell or staying here and dealing with the blonde who was eyeing him like a piece of meat.

Alfons stood up. "Sure."

They went out through the back doors of the gym and Alfons didn't even realize how hot it was in the gym until he set foot outside.

Russell sighed and his breath formed a white puff of smoke as he did. "Man, that feels good. Maybe we should tell them to turn the heaters down a notch huh?" he asked as he turned to Alfons.

Alfons shrugged. "It's not that bad."

"You just say that because as soon as you see a girl looking at you, you hide behind Winry. Do you hate dancing that much?" Russell asked as he fanned himself with his tie. Alfons stared at it absently, it was white just like his. Actually, Russell also wore a button down and a waistcoat too, except his was a weird hooded one with white pinstripes and his shirt was purple. He wondered how weirdly similar they looked standing next to each other.

Alfons laughed. "I don't _hate_ it, but as long as I could avoid it, I would."

"Why? Afraid the girls would have an excuse to molest you while using you as a stripper pole?"

Russell spoke as if from experience and Alfons just blushed and looked down, knowing he was right but unable to actually voice out his agreement.

"You know, there are girls in there who honestly just want to dance with you but you avoided them too."

Alfons looked away, he had a strong feeling that he knew exactly where this was going. He didn't say anything and Russell continued.

"Come to think of it, you've been ignoring girls since you got here."

Alfons' silence continued and it only seemed to make Russell bolder.

"Can I just ask, why exactly is that?"

Alfons sighed and looked up to find Russell staring at him intently, his gray eyes expectant.

Alfons wanted to smack himself then, of course he knew that Alfons knew, all of their friends knew that Russell had his sights set on him, Alfons would have to be blind or unbelievably dense not to know, Russell knew that. Why didn't he tell him he wasn't interested sooner? Russell probably expected this conversation to end with him having a new boyfriend.

"Look, Russell…"

"There you are!"

An impatient voice called out, rather loudly too and both Alfons and Russell jumped as they heard it. Alfons blinked, recognizing the voice…was that? He whirled around.

It was.

"Elric? What are you doing here?" Russell asked, his voice equal parts annoyance and astonishment.

And sure enough, there stood Edward Elric, the very same Edward Elric that told Alfons a few hours earlier that he wasn't going to the dance. He looked even more attractive than usual, dressed in jet black jeans and a sports coat with a red hoodie underneath. A wide studded belt hung diagonally across his hips and both the sports coat and hoodie were open, revealing a gray shirt and a red scarf underneath. His hair was still as shiny as ever but instead of it's usual braid, it was tied up into a high pony tail.

"I've been looking for you everywhere." Edward said, ignoring Russell completely as he walked up to Alfons.

"What're you-?"Alfons began but was cut off by Russell.

"Nice to see you too glitter-flea, now what are you doing here?"

Edward scowled at Russell and Russell, scowled back. They glared at each other for a few seconds, then Edward took a step closer to Alfons.

"I was a little busy so I didn't get here earlier and I don't have to explain myself to you Tringham but since it'd get rid of you faster," Edward said as he slowly raised his arm.

He wrapped it around Alfons' shoulder as he pulled Alfons against him.

"I'm out here to get my date."

Alfons turned his head so fast, he actually heard it crack.

_What?_

* * *

Mwahahahahaha cliffie! this is the first ever cliff hanger I've ever done. And perhaps several people out there are wanting to strangle me now for leaving it off here XD

What is Edward thinking?

Is he drunk on a junkie's blood or just being OOC?

You'll find out in the next chapter XDDDD.

With regards to Russell and and Alfons' similar outfits XD, I just noticed that in the FMA-verse, they both wore suspenders! XD I was like, :O Wow, looks like Alfons isn't the only blonde walking around in a white shirt and suspenders in the fma-verse. And in case you didn't figure it out or did not read the manga/watch brotherhood, yes Winry's date is in fact Ling-Yao. I don't really support that couple but I had to put Winry with someone so, yeah. Ooh and SheskaxFuery, NERD LOVE! XD you have to admit they'd be cute together 3

Reviews are LOVE.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi again guys!

I return once again with a new chapter ^^

R&R

* * *

There had been several times in his life when Alfons had been so completely, utterly floored that he had to wonder if he was either dreaming or dead and that moment right then, probably wouldn't be the most surprising but it was absolutely one of the most and pretty high up on the list too.

For a solid 5 seconds, he and Russell stared at Edward with their eyes stretched as wide as they could go, then after another 3 seconds Russell managed to find his voice.

"…._What?_"

He croaked like he was choking and if his own voice hadn't been lost somewhere in the recesses of his conscious, Alfons was pretty sure he would've said the same thing in the exact same way. Plus there was the fact that Edward still had his arm around him and they were connected from the hip to shoulder. He was so close, he could smell the remarkably _good _smelling cologne emanating from him. It smelled similar to the expensive colognes Uncle Alex always used and the smell plus Edward was a killer combination that Alfons found quite distracting.

"You heard me." Edward repeated, his expression impatient, as if he was talking to an extremely slow 5 year old.

The floored expression on Russell's face, if possible only grew worse and underneath the impatience on Edward's face, Alfons detected a hint of smugness.

"Alfons…is _your_ **date**?" Russell asked slowly, the incredulity in his voice was so thick, Alfons can practically taste it in the air.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Your mental capacity get's lower every day…" he muttered. "_Yes._ Tringham, he _is_." He added in a much louder voice, emphasizing the words to show that he really wasn't kidding.

Russell turned to Alfons, his eyes still wide with surprise. "Is that true?"

For a second Alfons panicked as his honesty reflex and his conscience clashed together. He didn't like lying and he was just as stunned as Russell. He had no idea what the heck Edward was thinking and he was a bit scared to do anything because a wrong move could possibly send the situation into a death spiral of doom. On the other hand, lying would easily solve the problem he was about to face before Edward came along. If Russell assumed that he and Edward were together, he'd back off, just like that.

"Um…"

Russell leaned forward intently, looking like he'd pass out if he didn't get an answer soon.

Inconspicuously, Edward squeezed his shoulder and nudged his back lightly with the side of his elbow.

"Well…" he took a deep breath, then Edward stepped on his foot, hard and before he could think about it, he blurted out an answer.

"-Yes!"

Russell looked like he had no idea how to react for a second, then he took a step back and let out a soft

"Oh…okay."

"Yeah…so um…" Alfons began.

"We'll be going now, bye Tringham."

Edward finished for him and before Russell or Alfons can say anything, he towed Alfons away, his arm still locked securely around Alfons' shoulders.

"Bye Russell." Alfons called over his shoulder. Russell waved weakly at him, still in shock about what just transpired. Alfons felt for him because he himself felt like the ground moved from beneath his feet to above his head.

Edward didn't let go of him until they had turned the corner and as soon as they were out of Russell's sight, he removed his arm from around his shoulder and grabbed his wrist instead. Alfons jumped as his cold fingers clamped over his skin.

"Why are your hands always so cold?" he half asked, ask yelped.

Edward turned to him and shrugged. He led Alfons to the picnic tables located next to the gym, on the opposite side of where Alfons had previously been and sat on a table, facing Alfons as he rested his elbows on his knees.

"I thought you said you weren't going. And would you care to explain what happened back there?"

Alfons asked jerking his thumb in the direction they just came from.

Edward sighed. "You sounded like you were on death row when you called me earlier and I kinda felt bad, not to mention my old man practically kicked me out the door when I told him about it."

"And?" Alfons prompted.

Edward seemed to know exactly what he was asking. "When I got here, I couldn't find you anywhere so I asked around, somebody said they saw you walk out the doors with Tringham and, well unless you were planning to be that male bimbo's next boyfriend, I think I just saved your ass back there."

Alfons didn't say anything, distracted by the sudden inklings of disappointment he felt swirling around in his chest. So Edward only said Alfons was with him to help him get away from Russell…

Edward seemed concerned by his silence, "You don't actually _like_ him do you?" he asked, his expression a mixture of appalled horror and a bit of guilt.

The question bought Alfons back to his senses and he shook his head. "Of course I like him, he's my friend." he answered.

Edward raised an eyebrow. "Not what I meant. C'mmon, you seriously can't see it? Everybody else can."

Alfons pursed his lips and looked away, _everybody_ knew? Well that was comforting to know. He felt like smacking himself again. Oh great, he wondered how stupid everyone must think he was now, letting this thing with Russell go on for this long when it was so obvious.

"Yeah, I can and _no_ I don't like him like that." he muttered.

This time Edward looked incredulous and slightly piqued. "Then what were you doing out there _alone _with him? Why didn't you just tell him to screw off?" he asked, leaning back on his hands.

"I was just getting to that before you showed up actually."

Alfons said, lowering himself to sit on the low bench next to the table Edward was sitting on.

"And what about you? What _was_ that? Telling Russell you were my date."

Edward shrugged. "It was the easiest, fastest and most effective way to get rid of him."

Alfons frowned. "Couldn't you have come up with something less…I don't know, drastic? You do know that now he thinks you're-"

Edward's snort cut him off. "Who cares what he thinks? I definitely don't."

Alfons' frown deepened. "So you don't care that someone thinks you're gay?"

Judging by how the science club viewed Russell's interest in him, and their level of respect for their president, Alfons assumed that in this school homophobia was two levels away if not right next to, non-existent. However back in Germany, in his old school, if you weren't straight and someone knew, there's a 50-65% chance that you'd get mercilessly tormented. That's why to Alfons, who was used to hiding his sexuality with great care, the idea of simply not caring if people even _assumed_ you were gay was surprising to say the least.

Edward raised an eyebrow at him as if his question was rhetorical.

"I wouldn't care if everybody thought I was." he said, and there wasn't a single hint on his face or voice that said he wasn't completely confident with his words.

"And really… male, female, when it comes right down to it, it's all the same. People are people, as long as you're happy with someone else and they're happy with you then nothing should be wrong with that." Edward added, looking up at the clear night time sky.

Alfons looked up at him, surprised.

The answer was something that Edward would say but at the same time, it was something that he would've thought never even crossed the other blond's mind.

They were silent for a few moments as Edward continued to stare up at the sky and Alfons continued to stare at him.

"Hey, Alfons, can I ask you something?"

Edward asked, turning his head down to look at him.

"Hm?" Alfons asked.

"By any chance, are you…you know, gay?"

His coughing fit couldn't have picked a more convenient time to happen and for the first time he was almost glad that he was sick as he neatly dodged Edward's question by bringing his hand in front of his mouth and coughing like there was a stone lodged in his throat.

When his coughing continued without pause or any sign of letting up, Edward jumped down from his perch on the table and knelt in front of him.

"Are you ok?" he asked worriedly, patting Alfons on the back.

Alfons raised a finger and attempted to force his coughing to stop but failed miserably. He tasted blood just as it rose up to the base of his tongue and he thanked his lucky stars when it seemed to get stuck in the space between his throat and tongue and his coughing finally died down.

"Geez, I thought your pneumonia was completely gone." Edward said with a frown.

"It is, mostly." Alfons rasped out. "It's just the cold." he said, looking up at Edward.

A little dent formed between Edward's eyebrows when he spoke and Alfons watched in curiosity as Edward's nose scrunched up a bit and he tilted his head to the side, his eyes clenching shut for one second.

"What's wrong?" Alfons asked.

Edward looked like he either smelled something bad or he was trying to suppress a headache. Alfons sincerely hoped it was the latter. Edward's face scrunched up the moment he spoke, if he smelled anything, it would've been his breath. He didn't eat anything bad earlier did he? He mentally went through his evening backward, trying to remember if he had eaten anything with onion or vinegar or something even worse.

"Nothing, I think I jumped down too fast or something. I have a headache."

Edward said, interrupting his thoughts. Alfons sighed in relief and frowned as he fully registered Edward's words.

"Are you ok? Should we go inside?" he asked as Edward stood up.

"I'm fine. And I should be asking _you_ if we should go inside." Edward said, reaching up to his neck to unwind his scarf. He pulled it off and to Alfons' surprise, draped it over his shoulders.

"If you were still sick, you should've taken your coat before you went outside." he scolded as he wound the scarf tightly around Alfons'neck. The red fabric was strangely cold despite being wrapped around Edward's neck for who knows how long, but the scent coming off of it assaulted his nose and it just smelled so bury-your-nose-in-it-and-die-in-blissful-suffocation, good that he totally ignored the coldness.

"Oh and sorry about the smell, my insane father practically drenched me in cologne before I walked out the door. He got most of it on my scarf." Edward said, rolling his eyes.

"That's ok. I don't wanna go inside yet."

Alfons said. And he didn't because for one, he didn't wanna face Russell or anyone else for that matter with Edward by his side, pretending to be his date. Plus, he wanted to be alone with Edward for a little longer before they head inside.

"You're sure you don't want to?" Edward asked.

"Yeah."

"Alright, if you say so… But when you start coughing again, I'm dragging you inside."

Alfons chuckled softly. "Ok."

They were silent for a few seconds, Edward looked to the side and Alfons took advantage of his distractedness to run his eyes over him again. _Damn_, he looked good in those clothes, he looked even better with the scarf off.

"Hey, what about my question?" Edward asked him, still looking off to the side.

Alfons blinked. "What?"

Edward turned to him and his expression was something that Alfons couldn't quite place. It seemed like a mixture of anxiousness, embarrassment and curiosity.

"Are you or are you not?"

This time, it was his turn to look away and he did so immediately, feeling his cheeks heat up as he did so. Crap, he almost forgot about that, and apparently Edward did not. At all.

"Wh-why are you asking me that?

He mumbled, feeling a sudden urge to run or cover his face. What was _with_ that question? Guys don't go around asking other guys if they were gay. Do they? But then again, that only applies to normal guys and Edward was anything _but_ normal. He did what he wanted, however he wanted, with little to no concern as to how other people reacted.

"Just…just answer the damn question."

"You answer mine first!" Alfons practically yelled, the blush on his face increasing.

He had never, _never_ discussed his sexuality with anyone, even when he had completely come to terms with it. He hadn't mentioned anything even related to it with Uncle Alex and having to discuss it with _Edward_ of all people is beyond weird and unspeakably mortifying. Even if he did mention that sexuality is irrelevant and it doesn't bother him at all.

"I'm just curious." Edward said, finally turning his head to look at him, his expression was akin to flustered but he hid it enough that one probably wouldn't notice it if one didn't look hard enough.

"You're just curious?" Alfons asked flatly.

"Yeah. I mean, Tringham rarely goes after guys and so far, out of all the guys he wanted you're the only one who turned him down…or was about to. So, do you not like him because of a specific reason or do you not like him because you're unwaveringly straight and just too nice to say anything about it?"

Somewhere in his mind, Alfons had to wonder why Edward seemed to find this little detail of his existence so important but his question was legitimate and he could admit that if he was the observer, he would probably be curious too.

For an extremely long, uncomfortable time, they were both silent, then Alfons murmured, in a voice so low, Edward probably didn't hear it even if he was standing right in front of him

"If I am?"

However, no matter how softly he said it, Edward still managed to catch it.

"I believe I already made my opinion about this sort of thing perfectly clear."

Alfons looked up at him then, and all the traces of his earlier expression was completely gone, replaced with an easy smirk. He seemed sort of relieved almost.

"So, _why_ don't you like him then? Tell me, is it those stupid girly-as-hell bangs? Or is it just his toffee-nosed bitchiness? "

Alfons frowned. "Hey, Russell's nice, "Alfons was about to tell Edward to be nice too when a sneeze cut him off.

"Ok, that's it. I'm taking you inside."

He said, moving to grab Alfons's arm. Alfons moved away before he could. "It's just one sneeze. And besides I don't wanna go inside." he said, realizing that Russell had most probably gone inside minutes ago and consequently has had enough time to tell somebody what happened. And if somebody knew, then soon enough, _everyone_ will.

"And why not?" Edward asked.

"Don't you realize that if I go back in there with you, thanks to the stunt you just pulled a few minutes ago, everyone would probably think that you're my boyfriend?" Alfons asked, feeling a weird tingly sensation at putting the words you and boyfriend together in a sentence addressed to Edward.

Edward snorted. "I already told you, I don't care what people think. But if that bothers you then just tell them I'm not. Plain and simple."

"You…don't care if I tell people you _are_?" Alfons asked incredulously, and in some corner of his mind, the 'Does Edward like me?' drawer rattled so noisily, he almost actually heard it. Or maybe that was just his heart skipping a beat and restarting with a vengeance. Jesus Christ, how pathetically school-girl could Edward make him? He wasn't even trying (_Or was he?_ a voice whispered in his mind. He ignored it) It's embarrassing.

Edward sighed in exasperation. "How many times do I have to say it?" he asked.

"Ok, ok." Alfons said, trying to squish the inner voice he had that was practically screaming like a little school-girl.

Another coughing fit hit him then and he clamped his palm over his mouth when the blood from earlier moved to the center of his tongue. He cringed, he hated tasting blood.

"Alfons, I'm giving you two seconds to stand up and come quietly before I haul you back indoors."

Alfons immediately stood, something about Edward's tone and the look on his face left no doubt in Alfons' mind that he was completely serious. He could and he would throw Alfons over his shoulder if he resisted and carry him back into the gym like a sack of potatoes but before he could get any ideas, Alfons himself began walking to the school.

* * *

A constant rain cloud hovered over Stratford for the net few days and the constant dark skies and downpour did nothing to improve Alfons' mood. As expected, after the dance, the news that Edward Elric had been there as Alfons Heiderich's date had been passed on from person to person like wildfire and within a span of two days, half the people in his senior class knew.

The constant staring directed at him and Edward got worse as the news encouraged the assumption people already had of them being together and became the basis of rumors. Everywhere he went, it felt like there was always one or more pairs of eyes trailing after him. Or he could just be paranoid.

Alfons sighed as he stared out the window. It was History and he had less than (he suck a glance at the clock) 10 minutes before school ended and he'd have to either wait for hours until it stops or run to the bus stop and get soaked as he waited for the bus. Dammit why did all the teachers decide to have an after school meeting today of all days? Couldn't they have picked a better, _drier_ day to have a meeting? Of course, he _could_ just wait until it was over so he, Roy and Riza could still all go home together but he had chores that needed to be done, an essay that needed to be finished and a mountain of physics homework that needed to be done.

"And finally,"

Mr. Curtis began, he snuck a glance at the clock that hung above the door. "7 minutes, alright, before I let you go, I'm gonna be giving you guys a project tomorrow. You'll be doing it in pairs and please keep in mind that this project is worth quite a bit of your final mark so choose your partner carefully. Spend the rest of the night thinking, pair up and I will give you the project tomorrow." he said, closing the book he had in his hand and turning around to organize some papers on his desk.

The class erupted into excited murmurs then as friends automatically paired up and gushed over working on something together.

Alfons felt an elbow nudge his arm he turned his head to the side. Edward raised his eyebrows at him and he understood. They'd be partners of course. He nodded at him and Edward turned his attention to the clock above the door, staring at it as if willing it to move faster.

True to his word, Edward couldn't care less of what other people thought about him and when the stares and rumors started, he ignored it completely. He continued to sit with Alfons at lunch and History, not caring that it just seemed to confirm the rumors for everybody who wondered. Alfons sighed.

If he had been rumored to be dating anybody else, would he still not care? Did he not care that people think he was with Alfons because Alfons was his only and therefore by default, closest friend?

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day and interrupting Alfons' musings. He stood up, just as everyone did and began putting his things away. He looked at the window again as soon as he was done. It was still raining. He sighed again and regretted it as the action seemed to trigger a coughing fit that made his chest hurt. He put a palm to his chest, rubbing it in slow, gentle circles to make the ache go away.

"You okay Alfons?"

Edward asked, Alfons turned to him with a smile, his hand still on his chest. "I'm fine. Let's go." he said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. Edward let out a little noise of agreement and shouldered his back pack, shoving his hands into his pockets as they made their way out of the class room.

"I wonder what we'll have to do in History." Alfons said as they walked through the halls.

"Whatever it is, let's just hope there's no creativity involved, I hate presentations." Edward replied.

Alfons began to laugh but was cut off when another coughing fit decided to conveniently occur. This one lasted a lot longer than the one in the classroom and it was worse too. When it finally ended, Alfons was light headed and he stumbled a bit as he walked.

"Alfons, are you really sure you're ok? That cough of yours sure is taking a long time to go away."

Edward asked when he stopped to lean against a locker to wait for his mild bout of light-headedness to pass.

Alfons shook his head. "I always get sick and I'm a slow healer, that's all." he said with a small smile.

A small frown marred Edward's face. "Really? How long does it usually take you to recover from a simple cough?" he asked.

"Just give it a few more days, it'd go away eventually." Alfons said, feeling guilty about lying but trying his hardest not to show it. Edward was his friend and he seemed genuinely worried for Alfons' well-being and he was keeping a secret this big from him.

The frown on his face didn't ease up but he said nothing.

"Really Edward, I'll be fine."

The frown stayed on for a few more seconds, then he smiled. "Damn right you get sick a lot. Why else would you be so skinny." he said, poking Alfons on the ribs. Alfons leaned away with a yelp, not only was he sensitive there, Edward's poke felt more like a jab and it hurt…or maybe he was just so weak and fragile it only hurt to him.

"Ow, don't do that!" Alfons said, pulling an arm up to shield his side.

Edward raised an eyebrow. "What? It's just a little poke."

"It hurt." Alfons replied, his lower lip jutting out a bit.

Edward scoffed and rolled his eyes. "No, this-" This time Edward really did jab him and he did so right in the middle of Alfons' stomach. Alfons yelped and curved forward, rubbing the spot Edward had just hit.

"-hurts." Edward finished with a smirk.

Alfons glared at him and his reaction only made Edward's smirk wider.

"Oh, c'mmon I didn't even put that much force into it. Eat more meat Alfons, you seriously need it." he said, mock-punching Alfons on the arm. "And you need to go out more, you're too pale." he said, squinting a bit at Alfons' face.

Alfons snorted playfully. "Look who's talking. You're almost as pale as me."

"Almost is still better than 'just as'." Edward said. Alfons lifted an arm to return the mock-punch Edward gave him earlier.

"Oh, shut up." he said.

Edward grabbed his arm as soon as his hand made contact with his shoulder and Alfons jumped in surprise, not because of the ever constant cold temperature of his hand but at the extremely casual way he touched him, as if he did it on a regular basis.

Edward pushed his sleeve up and turned his arm this way and that, his Ocher eyes inspecting.

"Sheesh, you _are_ skinny. You'd probably fall over if the wind blew hard enough."

Alfons pursed his lips. Hey, it wasn't his fault that weight loss and lack of appetite were one of the many side effects of cancer. Edward lifted his other hand and wrapped his fingers around the middle of Alfons' arm. "My fingers make it all the way around your arm. Geez Alfons, I'd be alarmed if I were you."

"Ok, enough comment about my lack of physical toning." Alfons said, pulling his arm away from Edward's grip. He was slightly miffed. Even when he was a kid, he leaned toward the slender, lanky side and he'd been pushed around quite a bit in elementary because of it. It didn't bother him that much anymore after he turned 14, but still.

Edward let go of his arm with an impish grin and despite his mild irritation, Alfons wondered if he was the only person in the entire school who ever got to see him smile.

* * *

Thanks to his thick autumn coat, only his hair and the neckline of his shirt got soaked and when he got home, Alfons immediately took off his damp coat and placed it next to one of the vents to dry. Then he headed up stairs to change into more comfortable clothes. He dropped his partially wet shirt in the hamper as he passed it and when he passed by the open bathroom, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror above the sink.

Alfons frowned as he stared at his shirtless reflection in the mirror. Edward was right, he _was_ skinny, maybe not frighteningly so or even to the extreme, but still. If he lost a pound or two, his hipbones and his ribs would probably jut out. Maybe he should take Edward's advice and eat more.

The frown on his face melded into a soft, thoughtful look as he thought of Edward again.

What did he think of Alfons really?

Maybe if Edward hadn't told him that genders didn't matter to him, he wouldn't be wondering but he did and now the small hopeful part of Alfons had grown and was still growing as time passes by. Of course, he didn't really make it seem like his view point also applied to him specifically…but then if it didn't that would make him a hypocrite and Edward was anything but. There was also the way he acted when he blatantly asked Alfons if he was gay, as if it was of fairly big importance that he knew. And there was also the dance, when he pretended to be Alfons' date just to help him get him away from Russell. Why did he have to say he was his date? He could've made any other excuse, heck he could've simply dragged Alfons away with no explanation whatsoever.

He looked at his reflection again. Is there something in this lanky, blue-eyed blond that can really catch Edward's attention?

He sighed softly and shook his head, before turning and walking away.

* * *

Their History project turned out to be quite simple, but it required a lot of work, that's why the class was to do it in partners. They have to pick one significant person in all the lessons they've done so far and they have to write a report about their life and contributions to History and present it to the class. They also needed to individually write a 5 page essay on the person they chose and submit it one day before their assigned day of presentation. Mr. Curtis gave them until the second week of November to finish it, to the vexation of some students because it was October 30 when he gave them the project and that left them only 2 weeks to finish, which for them is not enough.

Alfons thought that 2 weeks was reasonable, if you just organized what you were gonna do and work productively, 2 weeks was more than enough.

He and Edward got to work 2 days after the project was given and the first thing they did was agree to go to his house after school and decide what they were going to do and who was going to do what. He met up with Riza and Roy after the bell rang to tell them that a friend was coming home with him to work on a project and that he was going to ride with him in his car. Riza told him ok and her and Roy went ahead to pick Katrina up from the day care.

When they got to the house, Alfons worried about what Grandpa Grumman would think when he comes home to find Edward's weird car in the garage but then again, he seemed to like Edward and his father well enough so, he shouldn't mind. Besides, the garage was big enough to fit two cars.

"Have you been here before?" Alfons asked as he unlocked the front door.

"Hm?" Edward asked.

"When you drove me home, you knew exactly where to go. Have you been here before?"

"Yeah, once. Your grandpa invited us over for some tea."

They took off their shoes and coats and Alfons told Edward to make himself at home in the living room before going upstairs to fetch his laptop. When he got back downstairs, Edward was there, standing on the bottom step and looking at some of the pictures hanging on the wall.

"Are these your parents?"

Edward asked as Alfons came to a stop on the step above his. Alfons turned to look at the picture he was staring at. It was a picture of the three of them, Alfons and his parents, it was taken in a studio when Alfons was only 2.

"Yeah."

Edward stared at the picture in silence for a second or two and nodded, then he pointed to the picture next to it. "Who's that there, standing with your dad?" he asked.

Alfons turned his eyes to the picture Edward was pointing at. It was a picture of his father on his wedding day, he looked like an older, dashing, green-eyed version of Alfons, standing next to his best man and Alfons' godfather.

"That's my Uncle Alex. He and my dad grew up in Germany together. He was the one who raised me after my parents died."

Edward nodded again and turned his eyes back to the picture of his family, he stared at it with an unreadable look on his face for a few seconds, then he turned to Alfons.

"Right, so what do we do now?"

They sat on the kitchen table and got to work right away. Alfons looked up biographies of some of the historical figures they discussed in class on his laptop and he and E dward went through all of them, choosing one with sufficient achievements to report about. After they had chosen, they planned how they were going to do their report. They divided up the research work and decided to do a power point presentation after they had all the info they needed.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, coughing fits started assaulting Alfons' lungs in irregular intervals and Alfons started wondering if he was catching pneumonia again.

He took a few gulps of the iced tea he had gotten for himself and Edward earlier after a particularly long coughing fit. At least he wasn't coughing up blood…yet. Hopefully that would come later on, when Edward wasn't here anymore. One more gulp and he finished the iced tea, he sighed and cleared his throat.

From where he sat across from Alfons, Edward looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, his lips turned slightly down. His frown got deeper when not even 10 seconds after his last coughing fit, Alfons began coughing again. Edward slid his own, untouched glass of iced tea toward him and Alfons took it gratefully, downing a third of it in a few gulps, hoping it would calm his coughing.

"You're not catching pneumonia again are you? Maybe you should go to a doctor."

Edward said, Alfons shook his head and stood up, taking his empty glass and heading to the sink.

"It's nothing really." he said, smiling at Edward over his shoulder.

He wondered how much longer the excuse is gonna work on Edward until he finally decided that something really was wrong and drag Alfons to a doctor himself. Wait…his own father was a doctor, if he got suspicious that Alfons' cough lasted for as long as the next few months, he could simply ask Hohenheim and Hohenheim, being an experienced doctor would only need a few clues to figure out that something was definitely very, very off.

The realization surprised him so much that he tripped on the grouted tiles of the kitchen floor and fell. There was a crash, a muffled crunching sound and a sharp slash of pain in his left hand as he fell to his knees. He had put his hands in front of him out of defense as he fell, forgetting that he was holding the empty glass in his left hand. It shattered on impact and the broken shards got crushed between his palm and the floor, piercing his skin in the process.

"Are you ok?"

Edward was suddenly there beside him, lifting his arm, pulling his hand away from the bloodied, broken shards of glass on the floor. Alfons hissed and cringed as he looked down at his hand. There was a short but wide cut on the heel of his palm and he watched as the blood pooled on his skin, some of it sliding down and forming lines of red down his arm. Alfons tsk'ed and stood up, pulling his shirt sleeve to his elbow and heading over to the sink to wash off the blood.

"Damn it, be careful."

Edward said in a strained voice, Alfons turned to find him suddenly standing at the head of the table, his expression was anxious, uneasy and a tiny bit wound-up. He sort of looked like he was gonna be sick and despite being the one injured, Alfons worried about him.

"Are you ok?"

Edward bit his lip, marched toward the counter and tore off some paper towel and marched toward Alfons. He said nothing but cringed a bit as he took Alfons' wrist. Most of the blood had been washed off and the cold water had numbed the wound a bit but it looked like it would still bleed. Edward folded the paper towel in half twice to make it thicker and pressed it to Alfons' hand, laying his own hand over it to put pressure on the wound.

"Ow." Alfons murmured. The pressure stung a bit but Edward's hand was cold, as usual and it felt good against the throbbing pain on his palm.

"If you don't like pain then don't get hurt." Edward said, looking like he was going to get sick again.

Alfons blinked. "Are you…scared of blood?" he asked, a small teasing smile appearing on his lips.

Edward snorted and looked away. "No." he grunted.

"Aww, it's ok Edward, everyone's afraid of something." Alfons said with a smile.

Edward turned his head back to roll his eyes at Alfons.

"Do you have a first aid kit? Go get it, I'll stay here and clean up." Edward said, pushing Alfons to the direction of the living room.

Alfons did as he was told, going up stairs to the bathroom to retrieve the first aid from the cabinet beneath the sink. He brought it back to the kitchen and when he got there, all the glass was gone and the floor was spotless, a faint whiff of bleach hung in the air for some reason but aside from the missing glass, the kitchen was exactly as he left it earlier, no mop or rag or bottle of bleach was anywhere in sight.

Edward was sitting on the table, looking impatient and he stood up when Alfons came back, dragging him immediately to the table and taking the first aid kit from his uninjured hand. Blood oozed up on the surface when he took the paper towel away from the wound and Alfons found himself smiling amusedly at the look of discomfort on Edward's face as he looked at it again. Who knew that the great Edward Elric was afraid of blood?

Edward examined the wound for a bit, then he picked up a pair of tweezers and plucked out a few tiny shards of glass.

"You know, if the blood really bothers you, I could take care of it myself." Alfons suggested, seeing the hard set of Edward's mouth, the dent between his eyebrows and the tightness of his jaw.

"Tch, don't be stupid, how can you do that with only one hand?" Edward asked as he dabbed a cotton ball with alcohol and swiped it over his wound. Alfons hissed in pain and he almost yanked his arm away from Edward's grip out of instinct.

"Sorry, you don't have anything else to clean it with in here." Edward muttered absently, absorbed in what he was doing as he pulled out some gauze and carefully wound it around Alfons' palm. For all the trouble it caused, Alfons was now glad that Edward had a doctor as a father. He would've dressed the wound wrong if he had to do it by himself.

He must've been unconsciously pulling his arm closer to himself as Edward wrapped it in gauze or Edward must've been unconsciously moving closer because when he looked up, Edward's face was only a few inches away from his own. His eyes were downright mesmerizing up close, like rare stones, brighter than amber but darker than topaz and for a second he forgot how to breathe. For a few seconds they just stared, the sudden silence made Alfons suddenly well aware that they were completely alone in the house and the knowledge somehow made Alfons tempted to lean forward and kiss him.

Edward stared back at him with an unreadable look on his face, he seemed to be thinking of something but his eyes gave no hint of it away. The silence stretched on for another second and Alfons wondered why they weren't saying anything. And if, despite the impossibility of it, Edward's thoughts were directed in the same direction as his.

And then, the silence was shattered and Alfons had to turn his head away as he started coughing like there was no tomorrow.

The coughing was strong, almost painful and Alfons knew that if he didn't run to the bathroom soon, he was gonna cough up blood right there in front of Edward.

He heard Edward's voice asking him if he was ok but he didn't get to answer as he stood up and ran to the bathroom in the hall. He barely managed to close the door before he was already bowed in front of the sink, coughing his guts out. He spat twice, spattering the porcelain of the sink with red. Alfons cleared his throat as he turned on the tap, he watched with a grimace as the blood swirled around before going down the drain. That was a little more blood than usual.

Three quick raps on the door made him turn around and he did so just in time to see Edward poke his head in.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Alfons turned off the tap and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Edward seemed like he didn't know if he should believe that or not, then his eyes widened as he seemed to spot something on Alfons' face. Alfons blinked wondering what he saw but before he could ask, Edward had stepped into the bathroom and reached a hand up to swipe his thumb along Alfons' bottom lip.

He stared at the drop of blood on his thumb, then he turned alarmed ocher eyes to Alfons' face.

"U-um, I accidentally bit my lip!" Alfons said, saying the first excuse he could come up with.

Edward frowned and his eyebrows drew together.

He didn't buy it. Not at all.

* * *

dum dum dummmm

Edo-kun is suspicious.

Another cliffie? *shrugs* I guess.

See you next time!


	6. Chapter 6

Hallo mal wieder alle!

If that's completely wrong then I apologize, I just used an English to German translator XD

Heeeeere's chapter 6!

* * *

For the next few days after that, things were…tense between the two of them. After he made his excuse, Edward had said "No you didn't" while looking at his lip. For a second Alfons had no idea what to say, knowing there was no cut on his lip and Edward wasn't blind not to see that. So he opted for what he had been doing from the very start, assure Edward that he was ok despite obviously being anything but.

They argued over it for who knew how long and eventually, Edward seemed to accept that Alfons wouldn't say anything other than "I'm fine." and he let it go. However, Alfons could see that he definitely knew something was wrong. Every time they were with each other, Edward would sneak glances at him whenever he thought Alfons wasn't paying attention and although he had never met any of his glances, the glances felt knowing and accusatory and sometimes, Alfons just wished that Edward would get it off his chest and just yell at him. He wanted him to _make_ him tell him that something was wrong.

Because despite how much he still wanted to keep the cancer a secret from Edward, the growing tension between them was something that he wanted to get rid off even more. It felt like a rift had formed between them and though they still sat next to each other in school, they spoke to each other less. As time went on, Alfons felt more and more anxious, like the sudden quiet between them was the calm before the storm, he had a feeling that something bad was brewing on the horizon and he just wanted the storm to happen and be over with.

He had even begun to reconsider his viewpoint on relationships. He originally thought that any sort of relationship (friendship or more) wouldn't be good for him and for whomever got close to him because in the end it'd hurt them both when Alfons passed on, however right now… Edward was slowly drifting away and in the long run that s_hould_ be a good thing, sever the tie now before it could go deeper and therefore hurt him deeper when he finally had to go.

Why did the thought of that _hurt_?

Not being Edward's friend, not being able to see him or speak to him before he was gone forever…Wouldn't it be better to keep whatever friendship they had and enjoy it until the end? So that at least he could die happy?

It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all… right?

Alfons stared blearily at the bright screen of his laptop, it was 4 AM in the morning and the words he was typing for his History report blurred together in front of his tired eyes. He still had a lot of time to finish it but he couldn't sleep so he decided to work on it to distract himself. He sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. When he opened them again, he took one look at what he had typed up so far and closed the document. As the window disappeared, Alfons was faced with his desktop background.

It was a picture of him with the Armstrong siblings; he sat on a low bench, between Uncle Alex and Aunt Olivier while the rest of his aunts stood behind them. Aunt Catherine had her chin resting on Uncle Alex's shoulder while the other two blond Armstrong beauties, Amue and Strongine(A/N: Thank you FMA wiki for informing me of the identity of the two other Armstrongs) stood next to her, looking prim and proper as they smiled softly at the camera.

Looking at the picture then, Alfons realized how much he really seemed to belong with the Armstrongs. Not just because they all had blond hair and blue eyes but because just looking at them sitting together and smiling, anyone could tell that they were a family. He sighed, he missed them now, even more so than usual. If he told them his current problem, what would they tell him?

Well, Aunt Strongine and Aunt Amue rarely visited the manor so he had no idea what they'd say. Aunt Catherine and Uncle Alex would both tell him that it's better to be as attached as he wanted while he still _could_ so he could carry good memories and no regrets to the afterlife and Aunt Olivier…would most probably tell him that attachments are nothing but trouble and they will be the source of his regret in the end. He smiled as he pictured it, yeah she'd tell him something along the lines of regretting being attached to someone because he'd be hurting so much when it was time to let it go.

"_It's your own damned fault, you knew full well that you were going to lose it in the end but you still stubbornly clung to it. Now look at you!" _

That's probably what she'd say to him on his deathbed while he lay depressed and miserable.

…Well, maybe not something that harsh, she wasn't quite _that_ heartless (He wouldn't put it past her though.) Then she'd scoff and say something like:

"_Better to love and lost than to never have at all, what a load of crap, in the end you'd still end up with _nothing_ and you have the audacity to tell me one option is better than the other?"_

Alfons frowned, was that really what Aunt Olivier would say, or was that what _he_ would say? He shook his head, trying not to get his inner pessimist anymore active. When you really look at it, it's like the whole 'the glass is half empty, the glass is half full thing. It depends on how positive or negative you really are. If Alfons chose to think that in the end he'd be stuck with nothing but memories and painful what ifs then he really _would_ be unhappy but if he chose to believe that he wouldn't regret being happy with somebody else while he was alive, then he would be happy…maybe.

Alfons sighed heavily and put his head down against the wooden surface of his desk. He should get some sleep, he had to go to school in a few hours.

* * *

"Hey, Alfons."

"Alfons!"

Alfons had his head bowed over his Physics book, half asleep and he hadn't heard the whispering voice calling his name but when he felt someone poke him in the ribs, he straightened with a jolt.

"What?" he hissed through his teeth. He got a total of about 15 minutes of sleep that morning and he was in quite a foul mood…not that the sleep deprivation wasn't partly his fault because of staying up and doing his history project but he wasn't in the mood to be his usual, calm, logical self so…

Russell looked slightly taken aback so his expression then must've really been something but like he did about many things at that moment, he didn't care.

"If you're gonna sleep, do it in your next class. Curtis is a lot more lenient than Eckhart." Russell said.

Alfons blinked, realizing that he was in fact just about to doze off in Ms. Eckhart's class and Russell had just saved him from a guaranteed punishment. He felt slightly guilty for snapping at him, Russell stopped walking him to class after the dance and he also spoke to Alfons less, but he still acted like a good friend.

"You look tired, what, did Elric force you to screw him all night?" Russell asked in what was meant to be a joking tone but his lips twisted over the words, especially when he said Edward's last name.

Alfons looked at him, horrified and Russell laughed. "I'm just kidding."

"We're not even together!...officially." Alfons said with a small glare.

He hadn't felt comfortable with letting Russell think that he and Edward were really dating so he told him that they were in an open relationship instead…which was a nice mix of the lie and the truth.

"Yeah, yeah, I know that. But you know, the two of you seem to be less close lately. Did you guys have a fight or something?"

Russell asked and Alfons didn't know if he was imagining the extremely hopeful look on his face.

"No." he replied.

Russell actually looked surprised. "Really? Oh. Okay, then" he said, then he turned is attention forward and tapped Kain on the shoulder. The two of them began talking but Alfons had no idea what they were talking about, lost in his own thoughts. Was the tension between them really that obvious? He frowned, then that means that it was getting worse…he'd have to do something about it soon.

* * *

Doing something about it, turned out to be a lot easier said than done.

He walked into history wanting to finally set things back to the way they were, he even came up with all the things he was going to say. However, when he sat down next to Edward, everything he wanted to say all but flew out the window. Edward nodded at him curtly in greeting when he sat down and just like that, his resolve crumbled to dust.

They spent most of History in silence and Alfons thought that they'd make it all the way to the end of the period without saying anything to each other. However, about 10 minutes before the bell rang, Edward spoke to him.

"Are you done with your part of the report?" he asked casually.

Alfons blinked and nodded. "How about you?"

"Almost, I need your help on something though. Do you think you can come to my house after school on Friday?"

Alfons barely managed to hide his surprise. "Umm…sure, just give me the address."

"No need, just tell your grandpa where you'll be and you can ride with me after school." Edward said.

Alfons blinked slowly. "Okay."

He had the impression that Edward was upset with him because he was hiding something and they both knew it but if he wanted Alfons to come over then, that was great. Even if he _was_ upset and just really needed help, then maybe when they were alone Alfons would finally find the courage to attempt to put things back to the way they were.

Alfons waited anxiously for Friday to come, eager and at the same time, frightened for the opportunity to either fix things up or completely ruin his friendship with Edward.

The rest of the week, Alfons contemplated telling Edward about the lung cancer. It was the secret he was keeping and telling it would be the only way to finally end the strain between the two of them. However, not only was Alfons still hung up over his take on relationships and death, he had a feeling that if he told Edward, the shorter blond might react badly. Either, he would blow up because Alfons kept something this serious from him or worse, he'd be too busy feeling sorry for him that their friendship wouldn't be the same anymore.

Soon enough it was Friday and Alfons found himself suddenly wishing that he had a bit more time. He barely slept, contemplating what he should tell Edward all night. When the light outside his window brightened, he still hadn't come to a decision.

It was raining when he left the house and it continued on for the rest of the day. He went through his classes like he was on auto-pilot, only half paying attention to what's going on around him. Eventually the day ended and Alfons found himself trying to stop his heart from going too fast in nervousness and accidentally injuring itself in the process.

He and Edward walk-…well _ran_ was more like it, to the parking lot, trying to get to Edward's car as fast as they could so they could get out of the pouring rain. When they finally made it to the car, Alfons practically hauled himself into the cold but dry cabin. Edward got in at a more leisurely pace and when he got in, the first thing he did was pull down his hood and shake the water off of his sodden bangs. Some droplets landed on Alfons, but he was mostly wet anyway so he didn't care. They didn't say anything as Edward started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. When they made it to the road, Alfons snuck a sidelong glance at Edward, all the while thinking of what he should say.

Edward's bangs were still damp and it was kind of odd because the water made them a darker color than the rest of his hair. On the other hand, the way the damp strands stuck to his face made him look especially appealing. For a second, the memory of that moment in his kitchen when he was tempted to kiss him flashed through Alfons' mind and he flushed lightly. He looked out the window to distract himself.

Neither of them felt like starting a conversation so they just settled for staring out the car in silence.

The houses and streets moved past them in a blur and it was only when the streets turned into wide, empty fields did they speak.

"Do you live on the outskirts?" Alfons asked curiously.

"Yeah." Edward answered, just as he turned on an unmarked road. They drove on it for a few minutes before turning onto another unmarked, unpaved road. They road was completely straight ad they drove on it until it ended, right beside a house.

It was…strange, not so much in appearance but more because it was located in the middle of nowhere basically. There was a wall of trees in the distance but between that and the house, there were several feet of bare land. As for the house itself, it was a modern, rectangular three story house. It was completely white and it looked so out of place in the wide, barren landscape it was almost comical.

There were black tinted glass windows on each floor and the front door itself was made out of dark tinted glass. A garage was attached to the side of the main building and in front of it, a misplaced wooden child swing hung from a half dead oak tree. Alfons stared at it confusion. Edward said his younger brother died a long time ago and he never mentioned anything about other younger siblings.

"Why is there a swing in front of your house?" Alfons asked as Edward fished around in his pockets to find the garage door opener.

"Because my dad is weird." Edward replied and gave no further explanation.

Alfons raised an eyebrow, wondering what on earth Edward meant by that.

After they had park the car safely in the garage, Edward immediately led him through a glass side door that led into the house. The inside of the house is much like the outside, everything was white, well almost. The floor was polished hard wood, and the light color of the wood matched the brown, beige, white, color scheme of the house.

All the walls were white, including the almost inconspicuous fire place on the first floor. There were balconies on all three floors an they were all on the west side of the house. All of them were accessible by again, black tinted glass doors. All in all, the house was a nice permutation of hard wood floors, granite countertops, classy furniture and black tinted glass. It was pretty impressive and it seemed too much for only two people to live in. It was something that wouldn't belong to a small town family but then again, Edward and his father hadn't lived in Stratford that long and Hohenheim, being a doctor, could've worked in grander, more expensive hospitals before and therefore would've had enough money to buy a house like this.

Speaking of him, Hohenheim was nowhere to be seen when they came in and climbed the stairs all the way up to Edward's room and though Alfons knew he was probably at work, he asked anyway just to break the almost oppressive silence that hung between them.

"Where's your dad?" Alfons asked, feeling weird as his voice echoed back to him. The house was so quiet, it felt like it was just one, giant, closed-off empty hall.

"At the hospital, he doesn't get back until 8." Edward replied as they walked down the hall to his room.

Alfons' heart raced when he contemplated the fact that he was all alone with Edward in this large, empty house. He had hoped for this but now, actually being in this unfamiliar place with only Edward for company frightened him a little bit. Because back when they were at his house, at least there were other houses around them, plus he had been comfortable because it was _his_ house. But here, not only were they the only two people in the house, they were probably the only two people around for _miles_. They were completely and utterly _alone_.

Alfons shook his head, he was acting like Edward was gonna murder him and bury his body in his backyard or something. He took a deep, calming breath and looked around for anything to distract himself with. His eyes landed on the row of picture frames hung up on the wall beside him and he stopped in front of one that really caught his attention.

It was a picture of two children, both golden-eyed and cornsilk blond. They were probably about 6 or 7 and he recognized one of them as a smaller, short haired Edward. Little Edward was standing behind a wooden swing and he had his hands on the other blond boy's shoulders. His hair was also cut short and other than the shape of his eyes, he looked almost exactly like Edward.

Edward seemed to notice that Alfons wasn't following anymore and Alfons heard his light foot steps as he approached him.

"This is your brother?" Alfons asked, turning his head to find Edward gazing at the picture as well, his golden eyes soft, almost wistful.

"Yeah."

Alfons turned his eyes back to the picture, so this was Alphonse huh? He was a nice kid, Alfons could tell that just by looking at him. There was an undoubtedly pure innocence in his face and even though he was just a child in the photo, the kindness in his amber eyes was definite. He and Edward wore similar genuine, happy smiles.

"What happened to him?" Alfons asked out of curiosity.

Edward's eyes hardened and the smile on his face abruptly vanished. "There was…an incident. Someone broke into our house and the bastard got Al and my Mom…" he said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Alfons' eyes widened in horror both at the answer and at himself for asking. Without knowing he had scratched at an old but deep scar, he knew that by the look on Edward's face.

"I'm…I'm so sorry." he said.

Edward shrugged half heartedly. "It's ok. It was a long time ago."

They didn't speak again until they made it to Edward's room. Alfons, out of guilt and shame more than anything. How the heck was he going to go ahead with his agenda of making things right when he was already off to a horrible start? Maybe he should just keep his mouth shut…for now, his little question about Alphonse Elric had saddened Edward, he knew it did even if Edward hid it so well.

He was momentarily distracted from his gloomy thoughts when they came into Edward's room. It was easily more than twice the size of his and it contained a bed, a desk with a flat screen computer on it and a shelf of books that stretched from floor to ceiling. The carpet was a soft gray and the walls were barren, the room looked so impersonal it was almost disappointing. You'd think, looking at his car that Edward would have a flashier room than this.

They got to work immediately, Edward pulled out a bunch of papers from under the computer keyboard and showed them to Alfons, pointing out the part of his report that he wasn't sure he got right and discussing with him what he should do about it.

They ended up sitting on the floor with papers scattered around them as they attempted to fix Edward's report. There wasn't much to fix, just the order of paragraphs and a few grammar mistakes and sooner than Alfons would've liked, they were finished.

He pretended to look over the whole thing a second time just to avoid having to talk to Edward. The whole time they were working, they spoke like they just met each other, it was almost _formal_. It was weird and awkward.

He kept his eyes glued to the papers in his hand, a thousand thoughts running through his head. He was so lost in thought he almost, almost didn't feel the sensation of having someone stare at him.

He instinctively looked up and was surprised to find Edward's ocher eyes focused intently on his face. He had the same, unreadable look on his face that he had when they were in Alfons' kitchen and their faces were inches apart. It was the look that suggested that he was thinking about something but gave you no hint at all whatsoever what it was.

He seemed to have been staring for quite a while but he just continued staring when Alfons looked up.

"What?" Alfons asked.

"You really are too skinny."

Alfons blinked, he didn't really know what he expected Edward to say but he knew that whatever it was, it wasn't _that_.

"What?" he asked dubiously.

"And whimpy looking, even without the glasses. No offense but you're just so scrawny that if someone attacked you, you'll be completely helpless."

Some other part of his mind was marveling amusedly over how random this conversation was but the greater part simply found it weird. Of all the other, _serious_ things he could've said, Edward chose to say that? He thought he was gonna say something like "I know you're hiding something" or something along those lines.

Alfons chuckled hesitantly. "I guess so."

Well, he guessed it was sort of a good thing? He didn't think he was ready to be confronted just yet. And hey, if Edward was casually poking fun at his build, or lack thereof then maybe he was willing to finally forget the incident at his house and go back to how things were before it happened.

Edward stood then, dusting imaginary dust from his pants.

"You need to learn self defense, stand up, I'll teach you some."

Alfons blinked. What? Where the heck did that come from?

"What? Why?" he asked.

"If you got mugged or bullied, what're you gonna do? Stand there and let them get away with it?" Edward asked back, raising an eyebrow impatiently.

"Edward we live in a small town in the middle of nowhere, the chances of getting mugged here are really low and don't you think everyone in the senior class is a bit too old for bullying?" Alfons asked, trying to lead Edward away from what he knew was a bad idea. A very _bad_ idea, that would end up with only him getting hurt he was sure.

Edward snorted. "Low doesn't mean non-existent, you'd be surprised and even if there weren't any in our grade, someone athletic from grade nine or ten can probably wipe the floor with you."

Ok, now he was miffed, that wasn't true. He'd admit to being scrawny and a bit feeble but being unable to defend himself against someone 3 years younger than him was going too far… But then again, Edward was probably the same height as someone in grade ten, he was shorter than Alfons but Alfons was pretty sure he can beat him to a pulp with little to no difficulty…but, Edward was incredibly feisty and he did get into several fights before and won all of them so he guessed that a person in grade ten, no matter ow athletic or built couldn't compare to him.

Alfons frowned at him. "No."

Edward pouted. "If Tringham was drunk and he wanted to rape you, are you just going to stand there?"

Alfons hoped the incredulity he felt matched the expression on his face and he hoped that Edward could see the horror and disgust there too.

"Ok, where the hell did _that_ come from?"

"Are you?"

"No! Because that would never, ever happen."

"Oh-ho, says you."

Alfons sighed, this has gotten ridiculous, no question about it.

"Alright fine," he sighed as he got up. He better just humor the little blond monster before he comes up with some other weird, mortifying excuse to mock Alfons' lack of physical prowess. Besides, how bad could learning self defense really be?

* * *

"Oof!"

For probably the 10th time in less than 15 minutes, Alfons found himself lying on Edward's floor with Edward standing over him with a bored look on his face. (The first few times, he looked triumphant but he got bored of throwing Alfons to the floor after the 8th time) He had never been more thankful for thick, lush carpeting than he was then. If the carpet on the floor hadn't been so thick, he was sure he would've gotten a thousand bruises by now and maybe even a fracture or two.

He knew this was a bad idea, _damn._ Now he could see why no one had won against Edward in the fights he'd been in before. Maybe he _should_ have told Edward he was severely sick, maybe then he would've taken it easy on him. He was never going to underestimate short people ever again.

"Ow…" He muttered.

Edward sighed with exaggerated exasperation. "For all your academic smarts, you're useless when it comes to anything physical."

Alfons turned to gaze at him from his place on the floor. "Thanks for the update." he said flatly.

"Alright, stand up. Try to throw me off, _again_. And try harder to succeed this time." Edward said, beckoning him up with his hand.

Alfons groaned. "No, Edward, you're just going to throw _me_ back down." he complained.

"If you just remember what I taught you, I wouldn't. Remember, elbow to the stomach or the face, then grab them by the arm and throw them over your shoulder." Edward said, demonstrating the moves as he said them.

"I'm not going to elbow you in the face." Alfons said with a small frown.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Just stand up, c'mmon."

Alfons blew air up at his bangs and got up with a groan. Edward grinned at him when he was finally back on his feet and Alfons inwardly paused as he realized that Edward was actually enjoying this and that he couldn't feel the tension that hung between them for days before this.

"Turn around and pretend I'm not here." he said, still with that grin on his face.

Alfons rolled his eyes and did as he was told. Yeah, like it was possible to ignore it when you know a ridiculously strong, ruthless fiend is going to charge at you. But despite that, he smiled a small smile when he turned. Maybe things could go back to normal without him having to tell Edward after all.

"What're you supposed to do?" Edward asked

"Elbow to the stomach, grab the arm and throw." Alfons replied.

Edward didn't answer and Alfons tensed when he realized that he already moved. He only heard the rustle of clothes as Edward moved and a split second later, Edward's arms were clamped tightly around his chest. He tried to wriggle free but couldn't. Dammit, how did Edward expect him to elbow him in the stomach when he couldn't even move his arms? He struggled to move his arms for another second, before another idea came to him. He lifted one foot and shot it backward, heel first into Edward's shin.

It worked, he startled Edward enough for him to momentarily loosen his hold and once he did, Alfons immediately elbowed him in the stomach, though because of the height difference his elbow made contact with the space between Edward's ribs, below his chest.

Hitting him there worked better than all the last times Alfons had tried to elbow him and as he felt Edward's arms loosen even more, he bent his knees, keeping his center of gravity low, grabbed Edward's arm and hauled him forward with all his might. Edward landed on the floor with a 'thud!' and Alfons stood in surprise when he realized he had actually done it. He managed to throw Edward off.

Edward blinked up at him from where he now lay on the floor and he blinked back, then he smiled and raised his arms in victory. "I did it!" he said gleefully. Edward blinked one more time before smirking. "You did." he said, then without warning, he jumped to his feet and struck out a leg, sweeping Alfons' out from under him. Alfons fell back with a yelp and let out a surprised breath when Edward pounced and settled on his stomach, pinning Alfons' arms with his knees.

"Ow, ow, ow! Edward you're crushing me!" Alfons yelped, trying to yank his arms out from under Edward's knees. Why is he so heavy for someone his size?

Edward smirked down at him. "Never celebrate when your enemy is still conscious Alfons." he said, taking his knees off of Alfons arms but not moving an inch from where he still sat on Alfons' stomach. Alfons rubbed his arms, trying to get the blood flowing in them again. He glared up at Edward, or at least he intended to but when he realized what a compromising position they were in, with him lying flat on his back and Edward on top of him, he blushed.

Edward blinked, seemingly surprised by the flush on his cheeks and he turned to his head to the side, hoping that Edward would think that his blush was only out of embarrassment at being a whimp. His heart pounded so loud he would've been surprised if Edward didn't hear it. He had been too busy worrying over their friendship the past few days, he had almost forgotten just how much he _really_ liked Edward.

A cold hand pressed against the side of his face and Alfons' eyes widened as the hand turned his head so that he was facing Edward again. There was that contemplative look on his face again, but this time it was more pronounced. His amber eyes bore into Alfons' blue ones and as if they had speared him to the floor, Alfons found himself unable to look away. The gold of his eyes were thoughtful, intense and Alfons heart hammered so hard in his chest, he feared it might crack a rib. Edward's eyes got drawn to his chest for a second, as if he actually heard Alfons' heart trying to beat his way out of his chest, and when they went back to his face, they looked resolved, as if he had just decided on something he had been wondering about for a long time.

His other hand came up to hold the other side of Alfons' face and Alfons jumped at the touch.

"Edward? What are you doing?" he asked in a soft, quiet voice that sounded foreign to his own ears.

Edward suddenly looked unsure and nervous, he also looked like he would be blushing too but he didn't. Then he shook his head and before Alfons could ask anything else, he swiftly leaned down and pressed his lips to his.

At that moment, everything seemed to stop, Alfons forgot to breathe, to think and his heart, that had been steadily trying to strike it's way through his ribcage ceased moving. His eyes opened so wide, he was sure they would've popped out of his head. His vision was obscured by pale skin and cornsilk blond hair and his nose was filled with a vaguely sweet, minty scent that he assumed was coming from Edward's hair.

His mouth fell open in shock and Edward's lips moved along with his, making him feel the full intensity of his soft, cold lips and reminding him that oh yes, _Edward Elric was _kissing_ him_. Edward moved his lips in between his, enveloping his bottom lip between his and surprising Alfons into enclosing Edward's upper lip between his own. He gasped, wondering if he had fallen asleep and this was all a dream, but then one of Edward's hands moved to the back of his neck and the chill emanating from his skin was too real to deny.

Then Edward pulled away and Alfons was too disoriented to say anything intelligible for a few moments. When he finally managed to regain his cool, he asked.

"You…y-…_why_?" he breathed out the last word.

Edward looked away, seemingly uncomfortable.

"…I just kissed you didn't I?"

He muttered, as if the answer should be obvious and Alfons should know why he did it.

Edward wouldn't kiss anyone he didn't like, heck he barely spoke to anyone or let anyone even sit next to him…except Alfons.

Alfons head spun and all of a sudden, Winry's and Sheska's words from that time in the cafeteria, his own musings and all the contents of the 'does Edward like me' drawer all spun around in his head, disorienting him once again.

And then, as if something snapped, he heard Aunt Olivier's voice in his head

_Better to love and lost than to never have at all, what a load of crap, in the end you'd still end up with _nothing!

Perhaps it was the sudden reality that had just hit him or maybe he had believed his inner pessimist all along, but at that moment then, his perspective snapped into place and he just knew he couldn't return Edward's feelings, because he didn't want to hurt him, he himself didn't want to get hurt.

Abruptly he sat up and pushed Edward away from himself. He turned away, facing in the opposite direction so that he wouldn't have to look into his face when he told him.

"What's wrong?" Edward asked

Alfons had to swallow against the lump in his throat before answering.

"…I…I can't Edward."

Even in his silence, Edward seemed confused. "What do you mean?"

"I…" He began but got cut off as he seemed to choke on his own breath, coughing so hard he felt like his chest was going to burst. He bent forward, clamping a hand over his mouth as the coughing wracked his body. He felt Edward rubbing his back and he must've asked him if he was ok too but he was coughing so hard, he couldn't tell, the coughing drowned out his voice. It felt like forever til the coughing subsided and when it did, Alfons had tears in his eyes and his palm was damp with something that was less thicker than mucus. He pulled his hand away and heard two simultaneous gasps as they saw the tiny pool of blood on his palm.

Slowly, he turned to face Edward who had a partly shocked, partly horrified look on his face. His ocher eyes were focused intently on Alfons' hand and slowly, Alfons closed his fingers over his palm, cringing as they made contact with the blood.

"Alfons…"

Alfons clenched his eyes shut. "This is what I've been hiding from you, the reason I came back to Stratford." he whispered.

"…I'm dying Edward."

* * *

Alfons stared at the tv in his living room without really seeing anything. He was back in his own home, pretending that nothing of significance happened and if he was succeeding or not, he didn't know.

After finally telling him his greatest secret, Edward had simply become quiet and Alfons avoided his gaze as he went off to find a bathroom to wash up and to leave Edward alone while the fact sunk in. He took his time trying to find the bathroom, he was terrified to go back and face Edward, unsure of how he would react.

After finally finding a bathroom and washing off the blood from his hand and his mouth, Alfons spent many minutes with his back against the door, hiding and thinking over what had transpired. Edward kissed him…he actually liked him back…and when it came down to it, he couldn't even tell him that he felt the same.

Hesitantly, he had picked himself up off the floor and made his way back to Edward's room. He was still there when he got back, staring at the floor with a blank look on his face. He looked up when Alfons came in and he asked in a voice that sounded dead if Alfons was ready to go home. Afraid of saying anything else, and really, he had no idea what he _should_ say, Alfons just nodded. They didn't speak a word, they didn't even look at each other until they made it to Alfons' house and for the past hour, Alfons had been watching tv, trying to distract himself so he could forget even for just a few minutes.

"Alfons"

Alfons looked up when Grandpa Grumman walked around the corner that separated the kitchen from the living room.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going next door to share these donuts with Riza and her family, you want to come along?" Grandpa Grumman asked, showing Alfons the large box of Tim Horton's donuts he held in both hands. Alfons stood and turned off the tv.

"Sure" he said eagerly.

He hadn't been next door in a long time, spending time with Roy, Riza and Katrina was sure to cheer him up, even a little bit.

They went next door and sure enough, just a few minutes in the Mustang family's company and he had mostly forgotten about his disastrous afternoon with Edward. All the grown ups talked merrily about whatever topic came up while Katrina sat in her high chair, sucking on a pacifier and looking as if she were paying attention to what they were saying. After eating, Riza and Alfons cleaned up while Grandpa Grumman and Roy went to the living room to entertain Katrina.

Alfons sat on the now empty table, watching silently as Roy repeatedly lifted and lowered his daughter up in the air. Katrina giggled madly, ecstatic at having her daddy play with her. Roy suddenly lowered her to his level so he could kiss her cheek and Katrina apparently found his eyes interesting because she started slapping her small palms against them.

"Ah, ack, ow, that hurts Daddy's eyes sweetie."

Roy said but made no move to move her away or shake her off. Alfons smiled and blinked when Riza suddenly appeared behind the couch her husband and child were sitting on and took Katrina from Roy's hands. She lifted her up and kissed her on the cheek and Roy tilted his head back so he could see them.

"I don't get a kiss?" he asked, looking mock-hurt.

Riza rolled her eyes. "No."

Roy's mock-hurt expression deepened. "Ouch. Now I'm below my daughter when it comes to my wife's affections." he said dramatically. Riza smacked him soundly on the head and he yelped, rubbing the spot she just hit. He expected Roy to complain but before he could, Riza leaned down and kissed him on the lips.

Alfons blinked slowly as the sight caused the memory of that afternoon to assault his mind. He frowned as sadness, frustration and a little bit of jealousy squeezed his heart. He wanted what Roy and Riza had, truly he did but he couldn't…and he never would. It was unfair and frustrating and it hurts, quite a lot.

That night he lay awake on his bed, thinking again of how unfair it was, not even living to see 18. There was so much he couldn't do and so much he'd never get to do. If he didn't have cancer, then maybe he wouldn't feel so bad about rejecting Edward because he was still young and he knew he'd find someone eventually, but that wasn't the case. He _did_ have cancer, Edward was probably could have been his first and last love but he couldn't even make that happen because he was too scared to even start a relationship.

When the sun rose, he he hadn't had even a wink of sleep. He was practically dead on his feet the whole day and to make things worse, Edward wasn't at school. He could easily have ditched because of some other reason but Alfons thought that it was too big a coincidence that he was gone the next day after they had fallout. Edward was avoiding him he was sure.

When he crawled into bed that night, he placed his cell phone next to his head on his pillow. He stared at it for the longest time, contemplating over and over again if he should call Edward or not.

He only looked away from it to check the time and when he did, the numbers on his alarm clock read 12:20 AM. Alfons sighed and turned over to attempt to get some sleep. Edward was probably asleep by now, if he wasn't at school again tomorrow, he'd call him after he gets home.

Alfons began phrasing the apology he was going to offer Edward in his head as he waited for sleep to take him and soon enough, his eyelids began getting heavy. He was pretty deep under that when he heard a faint sound come from his window, he thought he was dreaming.

But then, another sound came from his window, louder and repetitive. Alfons blinked his eyes open, wondering what was making the noise. It sounded like something was tapping, no knocking on the glass. Alfons slowly sat up, wondering what was making that noise. He swung his legs off the bed and hesitantly padded over to his window, reaching for the drapes as soon as he was in front of it. He parted them slowly and almost screamed as he saw a person right there outside the window, his _second story_ window.

Alfons jumped back in surprise and fear, but the scream died in his throat when he really _looked_ at who had climbed his window and was now looking into his room, waving his fingers as if saying 'It's me! calm down!' Alfons blinked, then blinked again as if the faint bit of cornsilk blond hair visible in the light of a nearby lamp post would change color when he blinked again.

The person tapped the widow again with his knuckles and Alfons shook his head and took a hesitant step closer.

Oh my god…it really was him.

"Edward?"

* * *

ANOTHER cliffie?

Why, YES.

*grabs helmet and shield*

I just know someone out there probably wants to shoot me right now for leaving it off here XD

I'm gonna update as soon as possible so don't worry! XD

Here's a picture of Edward's house: http : / burgrentals. com / listings / 337%20Deercroft%20007. jpg, just delete the spaces and oh, of course minus all the trees in the picture.


	7. Chapter 7

Hi again everybody ^^

Heeeere's chapter 7! Yay? Yay!

After writing this chapter, I realized that I never did put any disclaimers in my A/N's so...

I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING

If I had, Alfons would've existed somehow in the brotherhood/manga universe and he'd have been making out heavily with Edward at this very moment.

I also do not own the things I refer to such as Twilight or the song mentioned in this chapter, "Leave out all the Rest". The former belongs to Stephenie Meyer and the later is (c) Linkin Park. Oh and The saga of Darren Shan/Cirque du freak which is briefly alluded to here, belongs to the author Darren Shan.

Ok I think that's it, you've got quite a lot of reading ahead of you, so...off you go ^^

Enjoy my lovelies

:)

* * *

"Edward?"

Edward?

_Edward!_

Alfons blinked, shook his head and rubbed his eyes with his fists, still unconvinced that what or rather _who_ he was seeing was actually there. But then Edward knocked on the glass again and this time the one simple, loud knock clearly stated impatience. Alfons gasped softly as it snapped him out of his surprise, it _was_ really him, Edward was right there, right outside his window and he was so relieved to see him that for a second he forgot to wonder how in the name of all that's logical he managed to climb and cling to his window like that.

Alfons rushed towards his window and hurriedly popped it open, ignoring the mild sting of the cold November air against his cheeks and eyes as it blew in.

"You sure took your time." Edward said in an irritated tone as soon as the glass was lifted between them.

Alfons found his eyes glued and unblinking to Edward's face as the last of the shock drained away. In it's place, incredulity and worry washed over him. What was Edward doing climbing second story windows at such an ungodly hour?

"What are you doing here?" Alfons asked.

Even if the dark concealed his face, Alfons knew Edward just rolled his eyes. "I was going to break into your house, steal your stuff and kill you in your sleep, I came to talk to you, idiot." he said sarcastically.

Despite the relief he still felt at seeing him again, Alfons found himself mildly annoyed.

"You had to that _now_? Do you even know what time it is? What if you climbed my Grandpa's window by accident? What if you fell?" Alfons asked, horrified as he pictured both scenarios in his head.

Edward sighed and climbed into Alfons' window, Alfons stood back, giving him room as he pulled himself through the window and stood in front of him. Alfons reached towards the tall floor lamp next to his desk and flicked it on; squinting slightly when sudden light permeated the room. Edward grimaced at the light, as if it really hurt his eyes and he turned his head away, eyes clenched shut. Alfons stepped towards him in concern and he blinked as he saw that for the first time, Edward wasn't wearing a red article of clothing. He was dressed in head to toe black, as if he really was going to break into someone's house and had the forthcoming confrontation be less serious, he would've smiled in amusement at the thought.

He was wearing his hair in a pony tail again instead of his usual braid and the pony tail hung over his shoulder. The gold of his hair matched the gold buttons on his black pea coat and both the buttons and his hair glinted slightly in the light. Edward slowly opened his eyes, seemingly adjusted to the sudden light and turned to face him. Alfons' heart pounded and he found himself anxiously terrified as he waited for Edward to say something.

They stood in silence for a second or two and in that period, Alfons felt like he needed to hear something soon or he'd faint.

"Alfons, let's go outside."

Alfons blinked. Huh?

"What? Why?" he asked baffled. He wondered if Edward would ever stop surprising him with how strange he is.

"I don't want to talk here, c'mmon let's go."

Alfons' eyebrows furrowed. Where on earth did he plan to go at this time in the morning?

"Where would we go?" he asked, wondering somewhere in the back of his mind if Edward was drunk or something. He didn't _seem_ like it…

"Just trust me, and hey don't you owe me at least a talk?" Edward said.

Alfons eyes widened as he realized that Edward was right. He did owe him an apology and an explanation and besides, maybe his room wasn't the best place for this confrontation after all, what with Grandpa Grumman sleeping just down the very short hall.

"…Fine. I'll go get changed." Alfons said, walking away, towards his closet. He stopped when he felt a hand on his wrist. He looked to Edward questioningly and Edward just looked back at him with an impatient look on his face.

"No, we're running out of time, we have to go now."

Alfons blinked, he was getting more confused by the second and he opened his mouth to say something but only managed to gasp when Edward pulled him towards him and bent down to hook an arm under Alfons' legs, lifting him up into both arms, bridal style the very next second.

"Edward, what are you doi-," he asked just as Edward ran the short distance to his window and _leaped._ Alfons' question cut off into a gasp as he clenched his eyes shut and waited for the pain as he smacked, face first into the wooden frame of his window, the glass or the wall. It never came, instead, he just felt himself being tucked into Edward's chest and _falling_. He had a split second to realize he and Edward were falling to what could very well be their deaths but just as he realized it, the falling stopped. Alfons opened his eyes as he realized he felt no pain, non, whatsoever. He blinked realizing they were on the ground next to his house (or at least Edward was, he was still cradled in his arms like a girl)

"What the-…how in the-?"

He began but was then cut off as Edward leaped over the wrought iron fence that surrounded the house and half jogged, half ran to where his car was waiting, behind the house.

Edward all but threw him in, ran to the other side and started the car as soon as he got in.

"Edward, where are we going?" Alfons asked, now he was getting scared. Edward just _jumped_ from his window, with him in his arms. Gavity and their combined weight should've broken both of his legs to pieces, yet he was here, not a single hair out of place. And now he was driving away like he was being chased by cops. He didn't plan to kidnap him or something right?

"Relax, I'm not going to bury you alive or lock you in a cabin in the middle of nowhere if that's what you're thinking. You'll be back home before sunrise." Edward said calmly.

They drove for a long time and it was enough for Alfons' hysteria to calm down a little bit. However, he still felt anxious and wary of Edward, still wondering how on earth he could sit without screaming in pain, let alone drive when he frikkin _jumped_ off of a second story window with a hundred and thirty pound 17 year old boy in his arms.

He asked Edward a million times if he was ok and he could tell that if he asked one more time, Edward would probably strangle him in exasperation. He also tried to ask how in the name of physics and biology he was still ok, but every time Edward just dodged the question and told him to wait until they were wherever they were supposed to be heading.

Alfons sighed as he looked out the window of Edward's car. It was too dark to really see anything and Alfons found himself wishing that there weren't so many wide, empty fields in Stratford or the government would at least put streetlights on the roads. He snuck a sidelong glance at Edward. Some part of him was afraid that he would do something horrible to Alfons and that part of him was slowly growing as time wore on. After all, if someone climbed up to your window in the middle of the night (_Morning_, his mind corrected) and pretty much seemed to kidnap you despite saying they're not, never mind if that person was your friend, they'd still qualify as beyond suspicious.

Another part of Alfons felt guilty about thinking of Edward as a would be criminal but it's only a logical, human response that he felt scared and threatened right? After all, Edward might have super human endurance or genetically altered super-durable bones or something. (Just the fact that he wasn't thinking himself crazy for thinking such things, already troubled him) Who _wouldn't_ be frightened of being alone with someone like that?

Well, Bella Swan would…but then again she was a failure of a character and she was creepy-obsessed with her Edward. Alfons blinked as he realized he was comparing himself to her now, with his own Edward and exhaled an amused, silent chuckle that despite the current situation, he could still find something to laugh at.

Edward turned his head in his direction curiously and Alfons thought he was going to ask him what was so funny, but the car slowly came to a stop and Edward cut off the engine. Alfons blinked.

"Are we here?" he asked, wondering where among all the miles of nowhere in Stratford was "here" or if they were even in Stratford still.

"Yeah. Let's go." Edward replied as he opened his door and stepped out. Alfons hesitated for a bit, watching Edward from inside the car as he walked to the trunk of the car and popped it open. Then, thinking Edward might come back and drag him out, he opened his own door and sucked in a breath as the icy air hit him. He crossed his arms over his chest and walked over to where Edward was.

He was holding a plain white paper bag in one hand and he had the other on the trunk, appearing to be in the middle of shutting it. The moon was full tonight and it was bright enough that Alfons could see the outline of Edward's face and his eyes. He took one look at Alfons, shrugged off his pea coat and held it out to him.

Alfons wanted to snatch it and wrap it around himself but paused. "What about you?" he asked, eyeing the simple, _short-sleeved _black shirt that Edward was wearing. The moonlight reflecting in them enabled him to see Edward roll his eyes as he stepped closer with the coat still held out towards him.

"You're practically shaking, just take the jacket." Edward said, standing casually and sounding as if it was a nice, warm day in June. Alfons was about to reach for the jacket when Edward stepped forward and draped it over his shoulders. It was cold, like it's been left out in front of an open window but it was still better than just his thin, cotton sweater.

Edward stepped back, took one look at him and asked "What shoe size are you?"

Alfons blinked "14" he answered.

Edward pursed his lips, murmured something that sounded like, "They won't fit" and turned around, bending his knees slightly.

"Get on my back." he said.

Alfons raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Edward turned to look at him over his shoulder. "Do you want to walk barefoot and freeze your toes off faster?" he asked.

Alfons frowned. And who's fault was it exactly that he was barefoot in the first place? he wanted to say but held back.

"If I move around, I'll be warmer." he protested.

Edward considered that for a moment, then he straightened and turned toward him again.

"Alright, but just so you know, there are a lot of stones and twigs lying around so try to be extra careful unless you want to stab yourself in the foot." he said then began walking away, gesturing for Alfons to follow. Alfons looked around, there was nothing but land, patches of tall grass and clusters of rocks everywhere and up ahead, where Edward was walking, there was a hill. Again, unease gripped his heart, he had absolutely no idea where he was and he wasn't so sure he could really trust Edward anymore…

"I'm pretty sure there are snakes wondering about too!" Edward yelled without even looking back and as if to prove his point, Alfons swore he heard something hiss. He yelped and practically ran after Edward, hoping desperately that he was going towards the lesser of two evils.

* * *

"Ouch!" Alfons yelped _again_.

He jumped around a bit as he raised his right foot so he could pluck out the slightly jagged stone stuck to the sole of his foot. He checked it for any blood and sighed when he didn't feel the sting of a cut. Dammit, Edward wasn't kidding when he said there were a lot of rocks and twigs, he stepped on something pointy 7 times now. He was actually surprised his feet weren't bleeding yet.

Edward paused and turned back to Alfons with a sigh.

"Do you want me to carry you now?" he asked.

"No."

Edward shrugged and turned away. Alfons bit his lip.

"Ok, wait."

He crossed his arms across his chest. He can't believe he was actually about to agree to be carried like a child. But if he didn't he was pretty sure the next time he stepped on something, he was going to get a puncture on his foot.

Edward walked back to him calmly and offered his back again. Alfons was sure if it weren't so cold, he'd have blushed deep scarlet as he climbed onto Edward's back and loosely wrapped his arms around Edward's shoulders. Edward hoisted him up and even though he couldn't see his face, Alfons could feel that he was smirking smugly.

Edward continued to trudge up the hill, this time with Alfons on his back. He walked faster and even with Alfons' weight he didn't slow down and his breathing didn't even change. Alfons looked at him incredulously. Maybe Edward did have some sort of super endurance or something. How can anyone walk up a hill with another person on their back without getting tired or slowing down or stopping to pant and wheeze?

"We're not quite there yet but, take a look Alfons."

Alfons blinked and turned his head forward, gasping softly at what he saw.

The hill sloped down into a large pond. The water was midnight black and it reflected the full moon, the gray-black skies and the trees along it's rim perfectly, like a giant mirror. It was surreal and something that he never thought could be seen outside a painting.

Edward began carefully heading down the steep slope and Alfons looked at him again, reconsidering his ideas on what Edward's motivations were for taking him to this secluded but beautiful place.

Edward stopped when they were a few feet away from the edge of the water and he carefully lowered Alfons down on the dirt before walking over to where the water and land clashed, with that white paper bag he took out of his car earlier. Alfons watched him silently, curious.

Edward crouched down next to the water and pulled out a few, tiny things that Alfons couldn't recognize from the distance, a lighter and a wreath of flowers. Alfons tilted his head to the side and stood walking closer to see what Edward was doing.

Edward took the lighter and began lighting the tiny things, which turned out to be floating candles and set them, one by one on the water. Then he took the wreath and set it afloat too, it was big enough to contain all the candles within it and together the candles and the wreath all floated away, a little spot of light in the vast, dark water.

"What was all that for?" Alfons asked as he and Edward watched the wreath float away.

Edward stood and turned to face him. "It's my Mom's birthday today. There was a pond close to our old house, she always used to take me and Al out to it when the moon was full, and it'd look almost exactly like this." Edward said, nodding towards the water.

Alfons gazed at his face as he looked out at the pond with the gentlest look in his eyes. That look made Alfons feel like he was rudely intruding on something extremely private and he suddenly felt honored, not afraid that Edward took him here.

"Why were you in such a hurry to get here?" Alfons asked.

Edward pointed up at the sky and Alfons saw that the skies were already changing from black to purple.

"Dawn is only a few minutes away. It's not as good when the moon isn't at it's fullest."

Alfons nodded slowly, turning his eyes to the water again. It was so calm, the wind was barely blowing so it looked almost flat, like a genuine mirror.

"Whenever I can't solve my problems on my own, I like to come here and pretend I could ask her."

Alfons looked up at Edward, the other blond had his face turned away, his eyes obscured by his long bangs.

"I spent all day here yesterday, trying to figure out what I should do." He let out a small uncharacteristically nervous chuckle. "I mean, I never had relationship problems before…"

Alfons' throat suddenly felt dry and he looked down at the ground. Here it comes…

"I'm sorry Edw-" he began.

Edward turned suddenly and his ocher eyes were resolute, almost flashing when he looked at Alfons.

"Do you like me?" he asked bluntly.

"I…I-I" Alfons stuttered out stupidly, rendered speechless by the sudden question and his conscience warring with his truth reflex once again.

"Answer me and don't lie."

Edward said in a tone and a look that could've made the best liar in the world crumble.

Alfons sighed and looked away. "…It doesn't matter."

"Because you're dying?"

"Yes."

A hand suddenly swept in from somewhere and smacked him on the head. Alfons yelped in surprise and stumbled, turning his head to look at Edward incredulously.

"You idiot!"

"So you're just giving up? There's nothing you could do so you'd just wait to die? Is that it?"

Edward asked, his voice slowly raising in volume. Along with it, Alfons temper did too. How dare he…When he didn't even know what it's like to be dying at 17? Like popping open the cork on a shaken bottle of champagne, the emotions that he had been keeping in since the day he found out he had cancer just exploded, his temper flared and before he could fully think about what he was saying, he was yelling at Edward.

"What do you want me to say Edward? That I'm a coward and I'm pathetic because I'm just going to sit around waiting for death to creep up on me? That I'm scared of dying? Who isn't?"

Edward didn't reply and Alfons continued.

"I'm trying, I'm trying to be as happy as I could in all the time I have left, but it's not easy! Every time I remember that soon enough, I'm going to lose everything, I get scared…I try not to think about it often but the fact is, I _am_ going to die. There's nothing I could do about it." Alfons suppressed the urge to cry as he finally blurted out the thoughts he had tried to keep inside for a long time.

Edward sighed.

"Do you think the people you're leaving behind are any less scared of you dying than you are?"

Alfons' eyes widened and his head snapped up to meet Edward's eyes.

"If you distance yourself from any of them, it'd be like you're _already_ dead. And when you eventually die, they'd be left with nothing but the memory of how gloomy and pathetic you looked while you waited for death to come and get you. You think that won't hurt them? Wouldn't it hurt them a lot less if they knew that you died peacefully, and maybe not happy but at least not depressed?"

He paused to chuckle softly. "You're really weird you know that? Usually people like you would say, 'Well, either way I'm dying, so I'll do whatever the hell I want and have a damn good time while I'm at it. I have nothing to lose."

"Tell me something," Edward continued.

"Are you against being close to me because you're scared of getting hurt in the end or you're scared of hurting _me_ in the end?"

Alfons sighed. "Both."

Edward looked thoughtful for a moment, then he looked up at the sky, still contemplative.

"Well, I can't guarantee that I won't end up doing anything to upset you or that it'd really work out or that it'd be good enough that when you have to pass on, you wouldn't regret…being with me…" His voice lowered on the last few words and he ducked his head, as if he was mortified of uttering the words.

"So, you're just going to have to decide if you want to risk it. Keep in mind though, that there's an even chance of this going either really well or really bad and this might be the only chance you'd get at this. Why not take it? Being reckless and impulsive is stupid but being too cautious is even stupider."

Alfons stood, silent. Edward's words made perfect sense and Alfons found himself torn between wanting to run away and wanting to hug him.

"And don't worry about me, I'll be fine in the end." he added.

"You can't be sure of that." Alfons said.

"I can actually. I'm used to people passing on and leaving me behind." Edward replied.

Alfons' brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Edward took a deep breath and was silent for so long, Alfons thought he wasn't going to answer. Then he said,

"I'm…not normal." He took a breath again. "I'm a vampire…technically."

….._what?_

For a second, Alfons' brain blanked out and he didn't have the slightest inkling what to say.

"What?" he said after a long moment of silence. "I'm a vampire" Edward replied easily. Alfons blinked, he knew that some people joked about it but still... "And if you mention anything about sparkling I will shove an apple down your throat!" Edward added.

Alfons eyes shifted from side to side…maybe Edward _was_ drunk after all…

"I know you're probably thinking of hitting me on the head and making a run for it, but could you please listen to me for a bit."

Edward asked, seeing the look on his face and raising his arms as if Alfons was going to grab a rock and hurl it at him if he took a single step closer. He didn't sound drunk or high, and up to just a few seconds ago, he had acted pretty normal…

Alfons didn't get to continue sizing up Edward's sanity because then Edward gently grabbed his hand and lifted his shirt, placing Alfons palm on the left side of his chest. Alfons jumped when their skin made contact and almost pulled his hand away but Edward kept his hand locked around Alfons' own.

"Oh my god, you're_ freezing_!"

Alfons said in alarm. "Here, take back your jacket!" he continued, reaching up with his other hand to take off Edward's coat. Edward felt _too_ cold, he had never felt a dead person's skin before but he was pretty sure that right then that was what Edward's felt like. He was so distraught, he didn't even realize that if his skin was that cold then Edward should either be shivering like there was no tomorrow or lying on the ground, dead.

Edward didn't say anything and just grabbed Alfons' other hand, placing it on the other side of his chest, this time above his shirt.

"Edward, let go, you're going to freeze to death!" Alfons protested, trying to pull his hands away.

"No I'm not, calm down. If you would, maybe you'd see how that's not possible." Edward replied calmly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Can you feel a heartbeat?"

Alfons fell silent and tried to calm down enough to concentrate on his hands. Under the cold skin, there was…nothing. Both of his hands were on both sides of Edward's chest and there was _no_ heartbeat. _At all._ He pressed his hands harder against Edward's chest but he felt nothing, not even the movement of breathing…

"Oh my god…" he half gasped, half whispered.

Edward slowly released his hands and they dropped limply by his sides.

"Why do you think I didn't break any bones when I jumped down from your window? Why am I not suffering from Hypothermia right now? I _can't_ die."

At Edward's words he remembered earlier, Edward leaping down from his window while carrying him in his arms. He did it as if he just jumped from one step on a set of stairs to the one below it, then carrying Alfons up a rocky hill without getting tired, and now this, being cold as death and not having a heartbeat…

Alfons' mind spun, it felt like the universe was out of tilt and the sky was about to crumble and fall down on the world. He was silent, not knowing what to do or say and he stayed silent for a long time, that Edward asked him.

"Hey, are you still breathing?"

Alfons shook his head. "Ok…say I believe you, why are you telling me this?"

"I hate to say this but according to vampire stereotype, how old do you think I really am? I told you, I'm used to people dying. Not that I ever forget them, but I'm used to everyone I know growing old and leaving me behind." He seemed to hesitate for a second, then he reached up and cradled the back of Alfons' head. Alfons gasped softly when he swiftly leaned in and pressed his cold lips to his.

"Think about it." he said vaguely.

But Alfons thought he understood what Edward was trying to say.

It didn't bother him that Alfons was dying, he wants them to be together, or at least try…

"Edward…"

"I should take you back now. I did promise you I'd take you back before sunrise."

Edward said, looking up at the sky, which was still dark but more purple than black.

"And I don't think you'd be very happy with me when your toes turn black and fall off."

Edward added with a small smile. Alfons felt like he should say something but decided against it and just nodded. "Ok."

* * *

"Edward?"

Alfons asked as they drove back to his house. They were silent for many minutes after they got back in the car and began driving but Alfons' head was just so full of thoughts and questions, he felt like he'd burst if he kept all of them in.

"What?" Edward replied.

"Aren't you afraid that I'd tell anyone that you…" he trailed off, unable to say the word. He couldn't even fully grasp it yet.

Edward snorted. "Who would believe you? Not that I think you're crazy enough to tell anyone, or that you would for any other reason. I mean, you seem like a trustworthy person."

Despite the uproar of thoughts and feelings in his head, Alfons felt a little twinge of happiness in his chest. Edward _trusted_ him.

"So…you really are a…"

Edward sighed. "Yeah."

Alfons let out a weak laugh. "Now I see why you hate Edward Cullen so much."

Edward huffed but didn't say anything.

"Hey, can I just ask…you're not tempted to drink my blood or anything are you?" Alfons asked, genuinely curious.

Edward looked at him incredulously.

"What?" Alfons asked, knowing the question sounded like it was based off of Twilight…and maybe it was…but hey! It was a legitimate question, if you fed on blood, and there was some right next to you, then wouldn't you be tempted? And besides Alfons hadn't read or watched any vampire books and movies since he was 11, he didn't have much fiction and myths to base off of.

Edward sighed. "No. And if it makes you feel safer, _everything_ in Twilight is a lie…or exaggerated."

"Exaggerated?" Alfons asked.

"My senses are sharper than a human's but they're not so sensitive that I could see or feel your blood rushing in your veins from where I'm sitting, that's just stupid. No one can live a single day in that sort of sensory overload. However, I _can_ hear your heartbeat right now, but only faintly, the sound of the engine is drowning it out. If you became nervous for some reason then I'd hear it more clearly because it'd be beating harder."

"I see…and what about smell? Do humans actually smell you know, like food? And can you actually track them by their scent?"

Edward laughed. "No, they don't…unless they were bleeding and as for your second question, I'm not a dog, that bullshit is so ridiculous it's not even funny."

"So…you actually drink human blood then?" Alfons asked warily.

"Relax Alfons, I'm not gonna jump up and bite you. But yeah, I do. I'll admit it was creative of Stephenie Meyer to come up with the whole animal blood shit but still, no dice. I wish it was that easy. It's not compatible with our system and it tastes friggin nasty."

Alfons really felt like he shouldn't ask the next question he wanted to but as the product of everything he found out that morning, his curiosity was raging and unstoppable.

"…does that mean you've killed people before…?" he practically whispered.

Edward sighed. "Close, but no."

Alfons didn't say anything, waiting for him to explain.

"When it comes to that part, Darren Shan came closer to the truth."

"Who?"

"He wrote a vampire saga too, anyway, his vampires don't kill people, they just knocked them out, drank some of their blood and left them to wake up and think they had a weird dream."

"So you don't need to drain people. What did you mean, 'close'?" Alfons asked.

"We just drink donated blood now but back in the 1900s it was harder to buy blood even for doctors so we had to go around knocking people out and taking them to the hospital so they could have the blood we took replaced, or risk not being able to recover and die from blood loss."

Alfons raised his eyebrows, this is getting to be too much to take in and it was hard to believe but the way Edward answered just made you think that he was telling nothing but the truth.

"You said 'we'…so does that mean that Hohenheim is…"

"Yeah. It's his fault I'm like this in the first place."

Edward's tone had a hard edge to it and Alfons guessed that this was a topic he should avoid at all costs and he did.

"This all so weird…so the super strength and the speed, is that true too?"

"To an extent yes, I'm not strong enough to turn rocks to pure dust, easily lift cars like they're made out of plastic or run faster than a car, I'm not a frikkin super hero. However I can break bones and cause a considerable amount of damage to inanimate objects without trying hard…and as for speed, I think I'm just fast because I don't get tired. I don't even need to breathe…oh, I guess that's one thing that Twilight got right." Edward mused.

"Huh?" Alfons asked.

"My heart isn't beating, why would I need oxygen?"

That comment rendered Alfons silent as he realized that he was sitting to what could really be an un-dead person. Part of him is still unable to believe him but surprisingly, that part is just as big as the rest of his conscious, which chose to believe Edward from the moment he realized that he wasn't breathing.

They entered his street then and they didn't speak until they were already standing where they stood earlier that morning, where Edward landed after jumping out the window. The sky was a blend of blue and purple now, but the sun was still nowhere in sight.

"Hmm…this would be a bit harder than I thought…" Edward mused as he looked up at Alfons' window. It was still open, so thankfully, that means Grandpa Grumman hadn't woken up to find him gone.

"Ok, climb on my back again."

Edward said, and this time, Alfons didn't complain but just climbed up Edward's back without a word. Edward climbed up the wall slowly, finding creases and niches that Alfons would've thought too narrow to hold on to or step on. They had some difficulty climbing through the window but after a few minutes of maneuvering and a lot of convincing, Edward managed to get Alfons to climb in by himself first. When Alfons was off his back he lingered by the window sill.

"You're not coming inside?" Alfons asked.

"No. Go get some sleep Alfons, you need to be at school in a few hours."

"So what? So are you."

Edward smirked. "Actually no. It's going to be pretty sunny today so I'm not going. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."

Then he let go of the window ledge and Alfons gasped, running over to see if he was ok.

Edward didn't look back but he waved a hand in the air as he leaped over the fence again. Alfons watched him go, sighing slightly in relief. When Edward disappeared behind the house he stepped back and shut his window.

He walked back over to his bed and flopped down on it tiredly. What a night…morning, whatever. He sighed into his pillow and shifted to his back to lay an arm over his eyes, feeling curious when he felt the rough texture of his sleeve. He lifted his arm, startled and blinked when he realized he was still wearing Edward's jacket.

He sighed… Edward

His mind was still divided between believing him and thinking he was crazy. On one hand, the idea that _vampires_ exist was just preposterous but on the other, he saw and felt it for himself. Even with Edward's jacket on, he had been cold but Edward… now that he thought about it, he didn't rub his arms or cross them over his chest or did anything that a normal person would've if they were out in the cold in just a short sleeved shirt. It was like he didn't even feel the cold. Plus there was also the fact that he wasn't _breathing_ and his heartbeat was non-existent…

Alfons sighed and smacked a palm over his eyes…this is really messing with his head. He yawned, he was so tired…but how can he sleep with all he had to think about?

As if answering his question, a yawn escaped his lips again and his eyelids drooped. Oh, well, it looked like his body was too tired to take orders from his mind…good, for…Alfons yawned a third time and closed his eyes, falling immediately into the quiet world of sleep.

_Why are your hands always so cold?_

_Are you…scared of blood?" he asked, a small teasing smile appearing on his lips. _

_Edward snorted and looked away. "No." he grunted_

_Edward doesn't come to school when it's too sunny. My grandma is friends with his Dad, he says Edward has sensitive skin or something_

Alfons' eyes blinked open and as soon as he woke up, the first thing he registered was the blaring of his alarm clock. He sat up slowly and walked over to his desk to turn it off. As soon as the ringing cut off and the room was filled with silence, the first thing that came to his mind was, had that morning been just a wild, crazy dream?

He looked down at himself and blinked when he realized he was still wearing Edward's jacket. He must've fallen asleep wearing it. Alfons sighed…so everything was real huh?

He moved slower than usual as he got ready for school, lost in thought. Last night he dreamt of memories, specific ones, as if his mind had continued thinking of what Edward told him even as he slept. He remembered that Edward was always cold, he never ate, he disappeared during sunny days and when he accidentally cut himself in front of him, Edward reacted as if he wanted to run away…now he had an excellent guess as to why.

Alfons sighed and he leaned his head against the shower wall.

It all pointed to what Edward said being _true_.

It all made sense when he puts it together, why Edward and his father live in the middle of nowhere, isolated, why Edward alienates himself in school. And come to think of it, Hohenheim had been cold too, he remembered that.

It made sense…he can't believe he was actually accepting that but…it did.

What other explanation would there be for everything that happened last night? He could still remember with stunning clarity the frighteningly cold temperature of Edward's motionless, pulse-less chest.

He dressed himself as if in a trance and he only snapped out of it when he had stepped outside the house and a freezing breeze lashed harshly across his face. He ran back inside to grab the first scarf he could find and walked out the door while wrapping it securely around his neck.

Edward had been right about it being sunny, which was more proof that last night/ that morning wasn't a dream, however despite the sun, the wind was merciless and just plain arctic. Well, it shouldn't be a big surprise really, after all, November was coming to a close and winter was just around the corner.

True to his word, Edward wasn't at school today, as to why exactly he didn't know and he spent the entire lunch period wondering if the sun burned him or something like that…or if he sparkled. Ironically enough, when the thought crossed his mind and was laughing to himself like an idiot, he pulled out a blood-red apple from his lunch bag.

_If you mention anything about sparkling, I will shove an apple down your throat!_

Edward's voice echoed in his head and he stopped laughing, amazed by the fact that Edward didn't even need to be there to affect him.

Lyra took advantage of Edward's absence and sat next to him in History for the first time since Edward kicked her off her seat. However he was still so preoccupied in thought that he didn't even bother putting that much effort into pretending he wasn't ignoring her.

The heater in his History class was turned up pretty high and sometime during the middle of class, Alfons took off his scarf and laid it on his desk in front of him. He hadn't noticed it that morning because he just grabbed it without paying attention,

It was red.

Red, the color of blood, the color of bravery; two things that tie in very, very well with Edward's existence. Not only that, it seemed to be his favorite color too. Alfons sighed as he gazed at it, was it pure irony that he picked a red scarf? Or was someone up there trying to tell him something?

He didn't know how long he spent staring at the scarf and thinking of Edward, so when the bell rang, he almost jumped out of his skin. He was silent on the way home, and although it was cold, he chose not to wear the scarf around his neck, it was left clenched in his fist, where he could see it.

_I can't guarantee that I won't end up doing anything to upset you or that it'd really work out or that it'd be good enough that when you have to pass on, you wouldn't regret…being with me…_

_So, you're just going to have to decide if you want to risk it. Keep in mind though, that there's an even chance of this going either really well or really bad and this might be the only chance you'd get at this. _

_Why not take it?_

_Being reckless and impulsive is stupid but being too cautious is even stupider_

The brave don't live forever, but the cautious don't live at all.

He contemplated that as he stared out the window of Roy and Riza's car. He still had time, and in that time he could either try to cram as many experiences as possible or think gloomy thoughts, lock himself up in a metaphorical cage and wait for death to come get him before he had the chance to love something enough to not want to leave it behind.

Something is always better than nothing…right?

So that being said…should he really seize the opportunity and step into the vast unknown called 'romantic relationships' with Edward?

"…_and here we have a song by Linkin Park which is a part of the Twilight soundtrack"_

The radio was on and that particular little line, caught Alfons' attention. The DJ blabbered on and on about Twilight being popular for about half a minute then finally, he announced the title of the song:

"…_without further adieu, ladies and gents, here is 'Leave out all the Rest' by Linkin Park."_

The song was actually pretty good and the chorus had Alfons staring at the stereo like it had a face.

_"When my time comes  
Forget the wrong that I've done  
Help me leave behind some  
Reasons to be missed_

__

__

And don't resent me  
And when you're feeling empty  
Keep me in your memory

Leave out all the rest  
Leave out all the rest"

Once again, irony smacks him in the face. He would have been amused, but the lyrics only plunged him deeper in his thoughts.

_I told you, I'm used to people dying. Not that I ever forget them, but I'm used to everyone I know growing old and leaving me behind._

According to Edward, he lived long enough to be used to people passing on while he stayed, unchanging and immortal. How many _thousand_ faces had Edward known and lost? How can he still remember _anyone_ among everyone he had met? It was unfeasible to him and his throat clenched slightly when he realized that if he rejected Edward again, he'd be just another person that he lost…_just_ someone else he knew.

_"And don't resent me  
And when you're feeling empty  
Keep me in your memory _

_Leave out all the rest" _

He snapped out of his thoughts just to hear that part of the song once again and he frowned as he stared down at the red scarf in his hand. He didn't want to be just another person to Edward…of that much at least he was sure of. Many years down the line, he wanted to be remembered as something, anything, just as long as he remembered that Alfons existed once.

* * *

TBC

I was looking for good songs on youtube the other day and saw 'leave out all the rest' in related videos. I found out it was in the Twilight soundtrack after that and I laughed at the_ irony _of the whole thing XD The chorus matched Alfons peeerfectly not just the Alfons in this story but the real Alfons Heiderich ^^ It's an awesome song too.


	8. Chapter 8

Where did everybody go? :( Reviews _dwindled,_ holy crap

Anyway, wherever the rest of the people went, I hope they're well.

Thanks to everybody who reviewed so far and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

Excuse the poor use of German below, I only used a translator DX

* * *

"Hey, are you listening to me?"

Alfons shook himself out of his stupor to face a slightly impatient Lyra.

"Umm, sorry what was that?"

Lyra sighed. "Me and a bunch of friends are going to Toronto on Saturday, you wanna come?"

Alfons tried to look apologetic. "I'd go with you but I can't, I'm going to Kitchener with my Grandpa this weekend." he said, hoping that the lie sounded convincing enough.

"Awwe, you can't go any other weekend? Kitchener is like less than an hour away from Stratford" she said with a pout.

Alfons shook his head and smiled ruefully. "No, sorry. Have fun though."

Lyra pouted even more but decided to give up and moved on to another topic. Alfons internally sighed in relief and inconspicuously turned his head so that he could see from the corner of his eye, the silent blond sitting two rows behind them, surrounded by empty seats. It's been three days since Edward's huge revelation and when he came back to school the day after he said he wouldn't be in, he stopped sitting next to him in History but he still sat next to him at lunch. (Alfons assumed though that he only stayed there because neither of them had anyone to sit with during lunch) He assumed Edward was giving him space so he could think like he wanted him to but he was starting to get worried that maybe Edward had given up on him.

"…so yeah, are you and him actually together?"

For the second time in less than five minutes, Alfons was snapped out of his reverie and he turned to face Lyra again. Goodness, what he would do to have Edward kick her out of the seat next to him again.

"Hm?"

"You and Edward? Are you guys actually together?" she asked. And a little too loudly it would seem because the two people sitting in front of them, suddenly turned their ears in their direction, trying to look like they just conveniently all decided to change the angles of their heads at the same time.

"Um…no…".

…Yet. Maybe.

Lyra tried to hide her pleased smile but failed miserably. She opened her mouth to say something but thankfully, the bell rang and Alfons actually sighed silently in relief, immediately standing up to put his things away and get out the door as fast as possible.

Alfons, along with everyone else got a bit of a surprise as they stepped out through the school doors. A small crowd was blocking the exit when he got there and after struggling through the little throng of students, Alfons stopped short.

Frozen bits of white were falling from the sky and there was already a light dusting of it on the icy blacktop.

It had snowed the previous night too but it wasn't enough to stick to the ground. Some people were grumbling about the snow and others were ecstatic about the prospect of snowball fights/wars and were chattering excitedly as they caught some snow on their upturned palms. Alfons held out his one hand too and watched with a small smile on his face as snow flakes landed and melted on his palm.

Last winter, he had been stuck in a hospital hooked up to machines and going through all sorts of treatments that didn't work and he used to always look out at the snowfall and wish he could stand under it. So, needless to say Alfons was happy to see the snow, despite it meaning that winter was just a hair's width away. He looked up at the sky as he walked through the parking lot, watching out for Roy and Riza's Sentra out of the corner of his eyes.

"You sure act like you've never seen snow before."

Alfons stopped walking in surprise and turned his head to look at who had spoken.

Edward was there, leaning on the back of the Sentra. He was wearing black jeans, a navy blue winter coat over a light blue hoodie and a striped black and white scarf around his neck. He blended surprisingly well with the car and Alfons wasn't surprised that he didn't see him from his peripheral vision. However, he _was_ surprised that he was there, playing with the lapel of his winter coat boredly as if he'd been waiting there for a long time. If he was leaning on the Sentra, then he could only be waiting for Alfons and Alfons' heart raced at the thought. Maybe he was just being paranoid again and Edward hadn't given up on him after all. Or was he there to tell Alfons he had?

Alfons laughed sheepishly, trying to squash the sudden twinge in his chest at the thought. "I haven't seen it in a while that's all." he said.

Edward stepped away from the Sentra and walked closer to him.

"We're presenting our report on Monday, you know that right?" he asked casually.

Alfons nodded. "Yeah."

"So, we need to just discuss how we're gonna do it. Come over to my house tomorrow."

Alfons nodded. Edward hated presentations and Alfons knew he really wouldn't put much effort into them so Edward must want him over for another, completely different reason.

"Edward gave him a half smile, then he turned his ocher eyes to the ground, hesitating for a few seconds before turning his gaze back to Alfons' face and asking in a soft voice. "Have you been thinking?"

Alfons bit his lip and nodded but said nothing. Edward seemed to understand that he still hadn't come to a decision yet and he stepped back, offering a half smile again.

"Okay, see you tomorrow?"

Alfons nodded once. "Yeah." He murmured.

Edward walked away then and Alfons watched him go, thinking to himself that he needed to give him an answer, and he needed to do it soon or both of them would probably go insane…well, _he_ would at least.

That night as he sat on his bed, polishing up his essay and History report, he almost forgotten about his current standstill with Edward but then he ran out of errors to correct and to make things worse, when he lifted his head from the screen of his laptop the first thing that his eyes landed on was Edward's jacket, innocently draped over the back of the chair in front of his desk. Alfons sighed heavily and pulled off his glasses so he could rub his fingers over his eyes.

He needed to come to a decision and he needed to do it before tomorrow.

From the moment Edward kissed him, there's been a part of him that had been screaming and pushing him toward Edward and during the course of the last few days, that part had only gotten bigger, stronger and louder. The only thing stopping Alfons from listening to it now, is his inner pessimist that still stubbornly clung to all the negatives in the situation. The pessimistic part of his subconscious didn't fight back against the greater, now positive part but it refused to go away. It was small but it was unusually strong.

He blinked as he realized that that wasn't a bad description of Edward.

He laughed and shook his head.

He came to Stratford to spend the last months of his life in relatively happy peace. He was pretty damn sure that his current situation did not mesh with the peace part but as for the happy part…well, it was up to him to decide that. Alfons sighed and plopped down on his back, staring up at the ceiling with a contemplative look on his face.

What harm could it do really, if they just _tried_? Sure he'd probably be sad when the time came but they only had a few months left, how deeply attached could he possibly get to Edward in such a short time? A small voice in his head that obviously had seen one too many romantic films whispered _pretty deep_, he ignored it.

His chest started aching then and Alfons stood up to go get his chest pain pills. They took a bit long to take effect and after dry swallowing one, Alfons went back to his bed to wait. He put one palm on his chest, over his heart, his live, beating heart.

He sighed as he remembered the moment at the pond, Edward putting his hand over his own, unmoving heart. Alfons shook his head with a small smile. He was taking the whole vampire thing surprisingly well, maybe because some part of him still believed that it really wasn't possible, or maybe he's just never been easy to scare or one to believe in monsters or myths.

Or maybe, he just found Edward actually being a vampire completely and utterly hilarious.

Alfons shook his head. Wow, Stephenie Meyer certainly succeeded in shooting down the terror factor of vampires.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and Alfons pulled it out and flipped it open without even looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

'_I'VE MISSED YOU ALFONS JOSHUA HEIDERICH!'_

A deep, male voice boomed in his ear, making Alfons jump and hold the phone out as far away from his head as he could. He blinked several times shaking his head a bit to get his temporarily deaf left ear working again. It was like he stupidly pressed his ear against a speaker while it blared out the most piercing feedback ever.

After the shock of getting his eardrum busted wore off, Alfons realized that there was only one person in the world who used his middle name and that the voice spewing affectionate nonsense coming from his phone was all too familiar. He picked his phone up, checking to see if it was on speaker (it wasn't) and shook his head with a fond, exasperated smile on his lips.

"Uncle Alex?"

'_Ja! Ich bin es, dein Lieben Onkel!'_

The voice boomed out again and Alfons worried at how much he must be straining his vocal chords if he could be that loud without even being on speaker.

"Hallo Onkel Alex. Du könntest deine Kehle weh, Hör auf zu schreien." Alfons said, angling the phone so that the mouthpiece was closer to his lips but the earpiece was far away from his ear.

'_I see your German is still spotless, how have you been Alfons?'_

Uncle Alex asked, speaking soft enough that it'd be safe to press the phone back to his ear.

"I'm great. How are you?"

They spent a few minutes catching up and Alfons' mood lifted considerably, being able to talk to him after such a long time. He told him everything there was to know about his life in Stratford.(Well not _everything_. Other than his name and the fact that he was a friend, he carefully left out everything about Edward.) The rest of the time they spent talking, they spent talking about Munich and how things had been since he left. Eventually Uncle Alex had to say goodbye and Alfons slowly sunk back to his nervous-thoughtful mood.

He had just put his laptop back in it's place on his desk when his pone buzzed again.

Curiously, Alfons walked back to where he left it on his bed and tilted his head at the unknown number.

"Hello?" he asked as he pressed it to his ear.

'_Alfons, hey it's me'_

Alfons heart skipped a beat. "Edward?"

'_Yeah. Tomorrow, do you want me to pick you up?' _he asked hesitantly, and there was also a hint of something in his tone that Alfons couldn't quite figure out

For a second he wondered what Edward was talking about, then he remembered that he had agreed to go to Edward's house and that tomorrow was also Saturday.

"Oh, no that's ok. You don't have to, I could just ask Grandpa to drive me."

'_Really?' _

There was a pause and it sounded like Edward moved the phone away from himself because when he spoke again, all Alfons heard was a distant sentence that sounded something like 'Too bad'.

'_Ok then!'_ Edward said, sounding quite happy for some reason. Alfons raised an eyebrow.

Then there was a sound of scuffle and for a few seconds Alfons heard Edward yelling in the background for somebody to "_Give me back my god damn phone!" _

'_Hello Alfons'_

A deep voice asked. Alfons blinked. "Um, yes?"

'_Yes, this is Hohenheim. See my son lost a bet with me and…' _Hohenheim broke off and Alfons heard more sounds of scuffle and more cussing in the background as Edward yelled for his phone back. His tone helped Alfons figure out what that edge was in his tone earlier, irritation.

'…_I told him to pick you up. I mean it's only right that he should pick up the boy he liked when _he _asked him to come over.'_

Alfons felt his cheeks heat up and his eyes widened in surprise. Hohenheim knew? In the background, Edward's voice rose so loud, it was almost as if he had the phone back in his possession.

'_And he's trying to get out of it now. So, if you could please tell your Grandfather that he'd be coming to pick you up?'_

"Umm…sure?" Alfons said hesitantly.

'_Alright. Thank you. Have a good evening.'_

And then the line went dead, leaving Alfons to stare at his phone like it had just called him fat. Slowly, he put it down on his desk and sighed.

* * *

Alfons stared at the ceiling unblinking and completely, painfully awake.

He probably had ten seconds of sleep last night. But really, if you knew that in only several hours, your potential vampire boyfriend would come to pick you up and take you to his house where his vampire father waited, well aware that his son had taken a liking to you. Oh and don't forget that he might possibly know that you know what they are and therefore is susceptible to threatening you to keep your mouth shut.

Not that he really thought that Hohenheim would do that but hey, he never, ever in a million years would have thought that Edward was an undead horror movie monster either.

With a soft exhale of breath, Alfons sat up and looked over at the alarm clock on his desk. It read 8:45 AM. Alfons pursed his lips and sluggishly pulled himself out of bed.

"Geez, waking up at 8 on a Saturday…"

He muttered grumpily as he went over to his closet to get some clothes. He may as well start his day now, he wasn't gonna get any sleep anyway.

_buzz_

_buzz_

_buzz_

Alfons blinked at the buzzing that was undoubtedly coming from his cellphone and he turned around and walked back to his desk. There it was, spinning slowly on his desk while it droned. Alfons picked it up with furrowed brows, wondering who on earth would be calling him this early in the morning on a weekend.

"Hello?"

'_Hey. Hoenheim kicked me out early to pick you up'_

A familiar voice muttered grouchily from the other end and Alfons' eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"Edward? What? Are you on your way over right now?" he asked.

Edward grumbled something unintelligible under his breath then he sighed.

"No…I'm outside your house."

Alfons blinked and before he could think about it, he rushed downstairs to the kitchen and peeked out through the blinds on the kitchen door.

Sure enough there was Edward, leaning against his car and looking like a sulky child with an expression that only a 6 year old would wear when faced with a steaming plate of broccoli and brussel sprouts. He looked so petulant that Alfons found himself laughing under his breath.

As soon as the soft chuckling erupted from his throat, Edward's head snapped to his direction and childishly pouted.

"_You know Alfons, just because you're sick, doesn't mean I won't hesitate to hit you."_

He knew Edward intended to make the threat sound serious but the expression on his face as he said it only caused Alfons to laugh even more.

"_I can see where you're peeking out from behind the blinds you idiot, I really am going to go over there and strangle you if you don't go upstairs and change right now."_

Alfons tried to contain his laughter and stepped back from the door, raising one hand apologetically like he would if Edward had been standing right there in front of him.

"Okay, okay. I'm going upstairs to take a shower. Do you wanna come inside?" Alfons asked as the last of his laughter died down.

"_Nah, I'll wait out here. And Alfons?"_

"What?"

"_Take as __**long**__ as you like."_

He sounded as if he didn't want to move at all from where he stood and Alfons blinked, wondering what was waiting for Edward back at his house that he wanted to prolong going back as much as he could.

He went back upstairs after saying bye to Edward and took the shower he meant to take before Edward called. When he stepped out of the bathroom, he was completely awake and the earlier irritation caused by lack of sleep was completely replaced by nerves. He shook his head and lightly smacked himself on the cheek as he raided his closet for clothes to wear. He felt like a teenage girl who was about to be introduced to her boyfriend's parents…which wasn't far from the truth in his case. Hohenheim was waiting for them back at Edward's house and based on the fact that he wanted Edward to pick him up and Edward's behavior a few minutes ago, Alfons thought it was safe to assume that he would like to ask Alfons a question or two.

It was 9:10 when he went downstairs, freshly showered and dressed in jeans, a white button down shirt and a neat, thick black sweater with two white stripes on one arm.

Grandpa Grumman was in the kitchen, reading a newspaper and drinking some coffee. He looked up when Alfons walked in, carrying a pair of sneakers in one hand and his school bag in the other.

"Woah, is there school today? It's Saturday." He commented, taking in Alfons' appearance with a confused expression.

"No. I forgot to tell you, me and Edward have a project due on Monday and he asked me to come over to his house today." Alfons said as he set his things down and went over to grab a granola bar and a glass of milk.

"Oh. Ok, do you want me to drive you?"

"No, Edward is…on his way here right now. He texted me before I went downstairs, he said he didn't mind picking me up." Alfons lied, hoping that the pause he took wasn't too long. He didn't think it was a good idea to say that Edward was outside that very moment and has been standing there since he woke up, possibly even earlier.

Grandpa Grumman thankfully didn't comment on how early it was to be working on a project and simply said "Oh, ok then." He continued reading and Alfons ate his granola bar. He ate slowly, giving Edward enough time "to get there". After he was finished, he put his empty glass in the sink and pretended to check his phone.

"Grandpa, he says he's already out the door. I'm going now ok?"

He said as he laced up his sneakers. Grandpa Grumman looked up from his newspaper and waved.

"Have fun. Say hello to Van for me."

When he got out the door, Edward was in his car…well he was in a car but it wasn't the intimidating monster car that he always drove to school. Alfons didn't notice it earlier because it was also red like the other car but now that he was standing next to it, he knew that the other car and this car couldn't possibly be the same one. This car was sleek, brand-new looking and even motionless, it looked fast. Also unlike the other car, he recognized this one as a 2010 Chevy Camaro.

The windows were rolled down even though the temperature was below zero but then again, the cold didn't bother Edward at all. He was leaning back in his seat and he had both hands on the steering wheel, tapping his fingers on it boredly. He turned his head when Alfons came closer and Alfons almost laughed again at how disgruntled he looked, as if he had just been rudely woken up from the best sleep he ever had in his life.

"Hi." he greeted.

Edward turned dour ocher eyes to him and grunted out a barely perceptive "Hey."

"Nice car. What happened to the other one?" Alfons asked.

Edward shrugged. "The old bastard made me take this one. Don't ask me why, just get in." he replied, jerking his thumb toward the passenger seat. Alfons obediently walked over to the other side and got in, fastening his seatbelt immediately afterward. He turned to Edward as soon as he was done and raised his eyebrows when Edward yawned widely and rubbed at his eye even though there were no tears in both eyes. After he was done yawning, he slumped in his seat, his eyelids half closed and his lips pushed out in a displeased pout.

"You look tired." Alfons commented.

"Close enough. 'm sleepy." Edward grumbled as he pressed the button to roll up the windows and turned on the heater. Alfons smiled, touched that he remembered that Alfons was susceptible to frostbite unlike him.

"Thanks." he murmured.

"No problem." Edward muttered and yawned again.

"Why are you so sleepy?" Alfons asked.

"You would be too if someone woke you up at 6 –fucking- AM in the morning, made you take a 30 minute shower, forced you to change clothes 10 times then kick you out the door to go pick up someone."

Alfons raised his eyebrows dubiously. No wonder Edward was so cranky earlier.

He laughed lightly and tried to lighten the mood.

"I didn't know vampires needed sleep."

"Would you please stop basing everything off of Twilight? Immortal doesn't mean indestructible, yeesh!"

Edward said, clearly irritated. Boy, if the time ever came when Edward fell asleep in his presence, Alfons would be sure not to wake him up even if his life depended on it.

"Alright, alright, sorry. Oh c'mmon, that was 3 hours ago, lighten up a bit Edward." Alfons said in a placating tone. Edward just started the car and grumbled something unintelligible under his breath. Alfons sighed.

"How do you expect me to like you back if you're always glaring and crabby?"

Edward froze and turned to him in surprise, Alfons smiled hesitantly.

While he lay awake last night, he thought _again_, like he had for the past few days of what Edward had told him. It took him a long time to weigh the positive and the negative and in the end, although the pessimist in him remained alive, Alfons decided that he was willing to shove it aside and only listen to it when it was time to say goodbye. If it came back to bite him in the ass, if all of this turned into a disaster not worthy of the time he had left, he didn't care anymore. He came to Stratford to try to live out the last few months of his life as happily as he could and dammit, that's what he was going to do.

Uncle Alex's phone call also helped in his decision. He couldn't be any closer to being Alfons' second father even if he tried. He always wanted Alfons to be happy, he still did and for that, Alfons loved him a lot. He knew that when the time came when he got too weak that machines and pills would have to keep his heart beating, Uncle Alex would fly over to Stratford to see him and when he does, he didn't want him to see Alfons being "gloomy and pathetic" like Edward said. Not just uncle Alex but everyone else who loved him and who he loved in return.

Even this golden eyed, golden haired mystery beside him.

If Edward wanted him and if it would make him happy, Alfons wouldn't deny him. When he was lying on his deathbed he wanted to know that he made everyone who mattered to him happy and they'd have positive memories of him to think about when he was gone.

"Oh. I have your jacket." Alfons suddenly said, reaching into his messenger bag and pulling out the folded black square of thick, expensive(He checked the tag) cloth that was Edward's jacket.

"Sorry I didn't give it back sooner. I washed it for you and everything."

He said, holding it out to Edward with both hands. Edward's surprised expression hadn't changed at all and Alfons found that he couldn't quite stare into his eyes when he was like that, so he focused his attention on Edward's clothes instead. He was wearing a quarter sleeve charcoal gray cardigan over a pale yellow button down shirt, smoke gray jeans with wallet chains attached and a black tie.

Alfons found himself raising his eyebrows at the dressy ensemble, then remembered that Edward said something about being forced to pick clothes over and over. Maybe he had to change until his clothes met Hohenheim's approval.

The jacket was suddenly pulled from his grasp and Alfons looked up at Edward's now smiling face.

"Thank you."

He said and the way he said it, made Alfons think that he wasn't just referring to the jacket.

* * *

"So, you need sleep?"

Alfons asked as they drove slowly to the outskirts. Only 5 minutes after he started driving, Edward began yawning every few seconds. Alfons offered to take over for the sake of not crashing but Edward refused and asked him to talk to him to help him stay awake.

"Yep, 8 hours just like normal people."

"But why though? If your heart isn't beating, and you're not breathing, then shouldn't the rest of your organs not function too? And if they're not functioning, why would you need sleep?"

Alfons asked.

Edward shrugged. "Humans aren't fully sure why they sleep either. One theory is that humans sleep to heal by dedicating energy to repairing the immune and nervous systems, as well as muscles and bones. It's hard for me to feel pain or get hurt but my body is almost the same in composition as yours. That being said, some sort of strain should be inflicted on my system everyday too, just like humans and I need some time to repair that." he explained.

"Really? Does that mean that it's possible for you to get cuts and bleed too?" Alfons asked.

"I told you, immortal doesn't mean indestructible. Yes, it's hard but it's not impossible to hurt me. In fact, I think that if you tried hard enough, even you can hurt me." Edward said, turning his eyes to him with a smirk.

Alfons glared at him.

"Oh yeah? Tell me what I have to do." Alfons threatened.

Edward just laughed. "If you took a sharpened kitchen knife and pressed it down hard on my skin, you could cut me."

Alfons frowned. That sounded easy enough, in fact it almost sounded _too_ easy. There has to be some sort of catch, what kind of immortal would be that easy to harm? He voiced his thoughts to Edward who laughed once again.

"You're right, there is. If you do manage to cut me, I'll heal within the next 5 seconds."

Oh. Now, _that _sounds more vampire-like.

"Do you, you know, bleed?" Alfons asked.

Edward hummed thoughtfully. "For some reason, yeah I do. I have absolutely no idea why that is considering my heart is dead, I thought once that it was the blood I drank but then, how would it have circulated anywhere other than my stomach if there was no heart to run a circulation?"

Alfons was silent, absorbing all he had heard and thinking of another question. For a few minutes nothing came to mind.

"Any other questions?" Edward asked. and just as he did, one popped up in Alfons' mind.

"Yeah. Do you get burned by the sun?" he asked, remembering that time when Edward said he wasn't going to school because it'd be sunny.

Edward shook his head. "Nope."

"Then how does it affect you?"

Edward didn't answer and Alfons turned to find him looking out the windshield with a thoughtful look on his face, as if he was trying to phrase something in his head. Alfons waited patiently but he never answered.

"Edward?"

"No matter how I phrase it, it just sounds…stupid."

Alfons smiled, curious. "Why? It doesn't have anything to do with you sparkling does it?

Edward glared at him. "Fuck no!"

Alfons laughed. "Then what?"

Edward pursed his lips and blew out some air from the corner of his mouth.

"I'll just show you, you'd probably just laugh if I told you."

Alfons' brows furrowed. What other thing than sparkling could Edward be too embarrassed to tell him?

"Any other questions?" Edward asked, trying to change the subject.

"Hmm…not right now no, when I come up with something else I'll ask. Do you still feel sleepy?"

"Not as much as I did this morning."

Automatically, a flash of how Edward looked that morning, like he would punch the first person who pissed him off went through his mind. Then as if branching off from the memory, he remembered Twilight, specifically the part in the book where Bella went out in the morning and Edward was in front of her house, waiting in his car. He compared the mental image of Edward Cullen to how Edward looked that morning and laughed.

"What?" Edward asked him.

"Nothing, I was just thinking of how Edward Cullen you looked this morning, waiting for me in your shiny car. Where did you get this car anyway? Is it your dad's?"

Edward glared at him again and nudged Alfons hard with his foot.

"Hey at least I called and told you I was there. And no, this car is mine, Hoheheim gave it to me last year as a birthday present. Alfons, I swear if you make another comment about Twilight, I _will_ hit you."

Alfons laughed. "Okay. Wait, if you have this then why do you drive that other car?"

Edward looked at him as if he was missing something painfully obvious.

"Because it looks cooler. Duh!"

Alfons just raised an eyebrow.

"Any other questions before we get there?" Edward asked and Alfons looked out the windshield to see that they were already driving towards the unmarked road that led to Edward's house.

"Umm…Oh! Yeah, I have one. Does your father know that I know?"

"Yup. He knows everything."

Alfons thought about that for a minute, wondering if that was good or bad. "Why does he seem eager to get me to your house?"

Edward made an exasperated noise and made a face. "Because he likes you." he grumbled. "Do me a favor, when we get to the house, ignore him as much as possible." Edward said, turning to him with a piqued expression on his face.

"Why?"

Edward sighed. "Because he's an embarrassing old tart who has no shame and a seriously messed up sense of parenting. He probably already thinks of you as his son-in-law or something." Edward said with a grimace.

"What?" Alfons squeaked, distraught.

"Because mom's gone, he thinks it's his job to be the excited fangirl with the camera." Edward said with a small shudder. Alfons didn't know what to reply to that but he didn't have to because all too soon, they were already slowing down and coming to a stop in front of the Elric household. Alfons stared at it as they waited for the garage doors to fully open. It still stood, tall and pale, like a solitary light house, out here, smack dab in the middle of a sea of bare land.

"Why is your house out here in the middle of nowhere?" Alfons asked as Edward drove the car into the garage.

"Because, if our house was so easy to find, and if we had neighbors, then people would come over all the time and if they do, then the chances of them finding something suspicious would range from decent to high." Edward replied as he cut the engine.

"What suspicious thing would they find in your house?" Alfons asked as they got out of the car. "Fridge full of blood, coffins, spider webs and tombs?" he continued with a joking smile.

Edward only smirked. "I wonder if you'd still smile like that when I drag you down to our basement, where we keep our collection of dead bodies."

Alfons' eyes widened and Edward laughed. "Kidding, you're right about two things though."

Alfons raised an eyebrow. "Which ones?"

"You'll see." Edward replied, ducking back into the car to get the black jacket Alfons returned to him that morning. As he did, Alfons took the time to look around the garage and wondered to himself how he didn't notice how big it was the first time he was here, or the three other cars and the shiny red motorcycle in the corner. He spotted Edward's "cool" car and Hohenheim's Sedan but he ignored them, instead focusing his attention on the motorcycle.

"Is that yours?" he asked.

Edward turned his head in the direction Alfons pointed and maybe it was just the lighting in the garage but he could've sworn, Edward's face got even paler. He looked at the motorcycle like it had teeth and any second now it would rush over and gnaw his arm off.

"Edward…are you ok?" Alfons asked worriedly.

Edward gulped noisily and turned his head stiffly. "That motorcycle isn't mine." he said, then out of nowhere, loud ringing made both of them jump. Edward immediately pulled something out of his pocket and pressed something on it. The ringing stopped and only when he pressed the thing against his ear did Alfons recognize it as a cellphone.

"What?" Edward asked.

It was quiet enough in the garage that Alfons heard a faint voice coming from the phone. The voice was too garbled and soft for Alfons make out what exactly it was saying but based from Edward's expression, it can't be good.

"Yeah…yeah….No! I thought you said you cared about me you shit of a father!"

Edward yelled frantically and Alfons jumped back, wondering what on earth was happening. The voice on the other end said something again before it was replaced by a louder, more feminine voice.

'_GET UP HERE YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING MICRO-SHRIMP!'_

The voice was loud enough that Alfons heard it perfectly clear and Edward had to hold the phone out as far as his arm could stretch and rub his ear vigorously with his other hand.

"Edward? Who was that?" Alfons asked worriedly.

Edward didn't answer him and just yelled a "Yes Ma'am!" into the mouthpiece of the phone and hung up. Then he turned to Alfons and grabbed his hand, dragging him into the house as soon as his fingers clamped around Alfons' palm.

"Woah, slow down!" Alfons protested as he stumbled and nearly fell over the stairs as Edward dragged him to the second floor of the house.

"What's going on?" Alfons asked again.

Edward didn't answer and simply turned left after they've reached the top of the stairs. They walked straight into a brightly lit area, surrounded by marble counters on all sides. There was a black table in the center of the room and in it, two adults sat on plush, upholstered bar stools. Alfons immediately recognized one of them to be Hohenheim and across from him a pale woman with dark eyes and dark hair divided up into lots of tiny micro braids sat. They seemed to have been in the middle of a conversation and they both looked up when he and Edward walked in to what he now realized was the kitchen.

Hohenheim waved and the lady across from him glared. Edward was still holding his hand and he felt it when the shorter blonde flinched at her glare.

"Edward look, who dropped by to visit?" Hohenheim asked with a smile.

Much to Alfons surprise, the lady sitting on the table suddenly jumped up her stool and ran to where they stood. It happened so fast, like a cobra strike and he only had time to feel Edward flinch again before he felt her fist sail past his face and make contact with something behind him. That something fell over with a 'thud!' and Alfons turned to see Edward lying on the floor, comically twitching in pain with his limbs sticking up in the air like an electrocuted cat.

"Stupid pupil of mine! Trying to hide behind your boyfriend now hm? How could you sink from ridiculous to pathetic?"

The woman demanded in a no-nonsense, give-me-an-answer-right-now! tone that reminded Alfons very much of Aunt Olivier. Edward bounced back to his feet and bowed his head to her respectively. "Sensei!" he said. Alfons had no idea what "Sensei" meant but he didn't have time to think because the woman turned her sharp dark eyes on him. He stiffened.

Her eyes went from super glare mode to surprised, to friendly and the changes were so radical that Alfons found himself wondering if she had bi-polar disorder or something.

"So, you must be Mr. Heiderich, Hohenheim was just telling me about you. I'm Izumi Curtis."

She said with a smile while holding out a hand for him to shake. He took it, and immediately deduced from the cold temperature of her hand and her familiarity with the Elrics, that she was a vampire too.

"Nice to meet you." Alfons said with a small smile.

"Um, s-sensei, what are you doing here?" Edward asked hesitantly and Alfons had to wonder what Izumi had ever done to him to make him act like this. Edward seemed like he held a great deal of respect and an even greater deal of fear for her.

Izumi turned to him with a glare. "What, I can't drop by to see my own student?" she asked, in that tone that reminded him of Aunt Olivier again.

Edward waved his hands in defense. "No, no that's not what I meant! It's just that Sensei lives all the way in Japan and-"

"What are you saying? I _had_ to come see you, especially now that I know you have a b-"

And whatever she had to say, they didn't get to hear because at that moment, a small pool of blood jumped out of her mouth. Alfons' eyes widened in alarm but before he could ask her if she was ok, Hohenheim had appeared out of nowhere with a bunch of paper towels in his hand. He handed them to her and she took them immediately, wiping her mouth and chin with it thoroughly.

"Are you ok?" Alfons asked frantically. He coughed up blood on a regular basis but still, he had never coughed up _that_ much and it freaked him out.

Izumi waved her hand dismissively "Yes, yes I'm fine. This happens all the time, don't worry about it."

"Sensei, I think you should take it easy for a bit." Edward said, concerned but the look on his face suggested that he had seen this many times before and he was used to it.

"Yes miss Curtis, It was a pretty long trip you took, If you'd like to lie down and sleep for a bit, we have several guest rooms upstairs." Hohenheim said with a soft smile.

"Hm…well I am a little bushed from the flight. I guess I could go rest my eyes for a bit." Izumi said thoughtfully. Then she turned to Edward with a glare. "You better still be here when I wake up." Edward stiffened like a chewed out misbehaving child. "Yes Ma'am!" he replied.

Hohenheim led Izumi out of the kitchen and as soon as they were gone, Edward sighed and walked over to the table so he could slump over it like a worn out dishrag. Alfons walked over and climbed up on one of the table stools. "What was that about?" he asked.

"It's a long story. But to make it short, Hohenheim, that _bastard_ invited her over last night without me knowing so she jumped on the first plane to Canada and she got here this morning, after I left to pick you up." Edward said, his voice muffled by the table.

"Sorry about that." he added, turning his head in Alfons'direction. Alfons laughed. "It's ok, I know someone like her, I'm used to it." Edward raised his eyebrows in surprise but said nothing.

"How do you guys know her?" Alfons asked.

Edward blew out some air from the side of his cheek and straightened up. "You know what, We actually have to discuss our History project. Wouldn't take long but even if it did, I'm sure explanations would take longer. So, how about project first and questions later?" Edward asked.

Alfons shrugged. "Sure."

* * *

As they made their way upstairs to Edward's room, Alfons kept looking at his surroundings, keeping an eye out for any of the horror movie props he had mentioned earlier. He didn't find any coffins or cobwebs or skulls piled in corners but he did notice the many photographs he hadn't payed much attention to the first time he was there. There were quite a lot of black and white ones and he hadn't noticed them before because he assumed they were pieces that could have been bought from professional photographers, but now that he knew the truth, he knew that Edward and Hohenheim probably took them themselves. One particular one caught his attention and he did a double take when he saw it.

The background was familiar enough, he saw it a few times in his elementary history textbooks but what surprised him about it was that Edward stood in the picture, dressed in clothes that belonged in the silent movie era. He stood casually, looking at the camera sideways with a mild expression of surprise, as if the picture was taken the moment he turned around. The long brown trench coat, slacks, vest and button up shirt he wore just looked too plain and wrong on him, but there was no doubt about it, it was Edward in the picture.

"What'cha lookin at?" Edward asked from beside him.

Alfons turned to him and pointed at the picture. "This was taken in Munich wasn't it?"

Edward looked at the picture and nodded. "Marienplatz, sometime in the 1950's. I forgot."

Alfons' eyes widened, 1950's? "How old were you here?"

Edward thought about it for a minute. "I think I went there on 1957, so…58."

Alfons' eyes popped even wider and Edward raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't act so surprised, I told you I've been alive for a long time." he replied off handedly. Alfons looked at the picture again and tried to believe that Edward was already middle-aged there. Then he looked at Edward again and tried to accept the fact that he looked exactly as he had in the late 1950's. He shook his head, it was so unbelievable.

"Edward, how old are you really?" he asked, astonished.

* * *

I wonder XD

Well according to FMA wiki, in Hohenheim's profile, Trisha bore him their first son in 1899 so techinically, by now, the real Edward Elric is a century and one year over a decade old ^^.

Ahh Wikipedia, you're so useful. And I am so unoriginal XD, yes, I will be using Edward's real birth year but his history is a complete figment of my imagination...well maybe not complete but mostly.

And hooray, Izumi-sensei! I will explain her history later on, and I made her come from Japan because the name "Izumi" could not be more japanese if it tried XD

Translations for the German:

'_Ja! Ich bin es, dein Lieben Onkel! - Yes, it is I your beloved uncle!_

Hallo Onkel Alex. Du könntest deine Kehle weh, Hör auf zu schreien - Hello Uncle Alex. You could hurt your throat, stop yelling.

Does anyone else agree that the name Joshua fits in very well with Alfons? And not just because he has similarities with the young Joshua from Chrono Crusade either XD. Alfons just seemed like the type of person that'd have a middle name to me for some reason and Joshua just sounds so...angelic and nice two things that I believed Alfons Heiderich to be so bam! I gave him Joshua as a middle name XD

Reviews are love, stay tuned for the next chapter (LOL i sound like a drama commercial)


	9. Chapter 9

I'm back people :D

I just want to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading and some of my reviewers for their questionably deserved compliments

I want to give Special thanks to:

**Incoming-Duck-Fiend** - you're very welcome hon. It made **me** smile to know that my writing could make you smile after a long, tiring day :) I wish I had a father like Hohenheim too XD his character got _butchered_ in the first anime but Manga/Brotherhood Hohenheim is made of win! I heart him XD

**I LUV SETH **- My only reader who is the only one who likes Twilight. I'm willing to bet that I like it a lot less than you do but, can I call you my Twilight buddy now? XD (gets shot for sounding creepy) You never fail to review and I wuv you for that. Thank you ^^

**The Lava Alchemist** - Just from your review I could tell you're an experienced, mature writer and I appreciate your comment greatly. Thank you so much ^^

And now, for the three of you and and everybody who's reading this right now,

Chapter 9!

* * *

"I said questions later, now c'mmon, I need to change out of these clothes. This tie is really pissing me off."

Edward reminded him and before he could say anything, Edward grabbed his arm and started towing him away.

He didn't remember exactly where Edward's room was the last time he was there but as Edward dragged him through the halls of the house, he was petty sure they were going a different way from the one they had gone the first time he was there. They ended up in a short, narrow corridor, it was considerably hidden and if Alfons had been wandering the house on his own, he most probably would have missed it. There was only one door in the corridor and Alfons found himself raising an eyebrow when they came to a stop in front of it.

It was made out of iron. Pure, dark, impenetrable iron and there was a raised Celtic pattern crisscrossing all over it. He can barely pick out a knob anywhere on it and right in the center, a door knocker hung from the nose of a glaring bull with sharp horns, like a large nose ring. The door looked like the entrance to a torture chamber, or a mad…make that, severely _deranged_ scientist's lab.

Suddenly the door opened and Alfons almost jumped out of his skin, before realizing that it was only Edward grabbing hold of a door knob somewhere along the twisted knots of the Celtic pattern and pushing the door open. Edward walked in casually and Alfons followed after two seconds of deliberation.

This room was nothing like the room where they worked on Edward's history essay. And as Alfons took in it's appearance he thought to himself that it definitely looked more like Edward's room than the other one. The dark hue of the blood red walls, the midnight black carpet and all the random stuff scattered about definitely suited Edward's strange tastes.

A black, gothic chandelier that looked like wrought iron torches connected together in a circle hung from the ceiling (A/N: ./library/1191279600/02_10_07_SKL_ just add the http : / and www in front ^^), one wall was completely concealed by a row of floor to ceiling book shelves stacked to the brim with books, and another wall was partially concealed by floor length drapes and weird iron carvings in the same design as the door. A flat screen TV stood on one corner with a DVD set. It was flanked on either side by two narrow CD racks and across from that was a…

Alfons stopped right next to it with a disbelieving look on his face and next to him Edward let out a short chuckle.

"You can laugh."

Where there should be a bed, there was a large, black padded _box_ that really looked like something a rich man would get buried in.

"You sleep in a _coffin_?" Alfons asked incredulously. Now he understood why Edward didn't show him his real room the first time he was here.

It didn't look like a traditional coffin, it had padding on the outside too and if not for the rectangular shape, it probably would've looked like an over sized ring box. However, the fact that it was in Edward's room and there was a weird cross like symbol on it(It was red and it looked like a cross made out of double tipped arrows. A snake was draped over the arms of the cross and above the whole thing, there was a crown with wings), made him think that it was nothing else other than a coffin.

"Well, yes. I guess technically, this _is_ a coffin."

"Why?" Alfons asked

"I told you my senses are sharper than a human's. At night, it get's reeaaally quiet here and even the sound of a fly buzzing could wake me up. It gets especially annoying in the summer. I can hear the house creaking at night, when all the expanded metal in the roof shrinks back because of the decrease in heat. The padding on the outside and the inside are both thick enough to block out all the sounds."

Edward stepped forward and patted the lid of the so-called coffin.

"Plus it's super comfortable to sleep on _and_ in. In the winter I sometimes sleep on it because at times, the house is quiet."

Alfons nodded slowly, that made sense but still…it was kind of creepy.

"So that's one thing. What's the other one? Fridge full of blood?" Alfons asked.

Edward smirked. "Bingo. It's in the basement though, because people still come over occasionally and even if the old bastard is a doctor, they'd probably be suspicious if it was in the kitchen." he answered as he walked over to a mirrored door. He opened it and walked inside and when he came out a few minutes later, he was pulling a plain gray shirt over his head.

He only saw it for a second but still, Alfons was impressed to know that Edward had a significantly developed set of abs. He closed the door to what Alfons now assumed was the closet and walked over to sit on top of the coffin.

"Right. Now, let's waste a few minutes for stupid school work and after that, you can ask me as many questions as you want."

* * *

Like Edward said, it didn't take them long to discuss how they were going to go about with their report and soon enough, Alfons found himself looking up at Edward from his place on the floor while Edward lounged on top of his coffin, waiting for him to start asking questions.

"So, what do you want to know first?"

Edward asked and Alfons wracked his brain, trying to pick one out of the thousands he wanted to ask.

"How do you know Ms. Izumi? Is she a vampire too?"

"Yeah. And I met her two years after I got…changed. I was pretty depressed and confused that time. I guess she felt sorry for me and she took me in. She taught me how to fight …hmm…I think that wouldn't be a good place to start. You'd get confused." Edward said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Alfons pursed his lips. "You're probably right. Ok, how about…let's start at the very beginning, how did you, you know, end up like this?" he asked, gesturing to Edward.

Edward looked thoughtful for a bit, then he asked. "How much do you know about Alchemy?"

Alfons blinked, wondering what alchemy had to do with anything. "All I knew was that it was a science invented in early times, dedicated to changing base metals into gold."

Edward nodded. "It was also dedicated to creating the elixir of life. In the middle ages, Persian and European alchemists put a lot of effort in their search for the philosopher's stone, a legendary substance that was said to be the key to not only changing metals into gold but to attaining immortality too. They never found it of course but what History didn't know was that, they didn't fail because it didn't exist. They didn't find it because at that time, it was in the hands of somebody who wanted to destroy it."

Edward leaned back and sighed. "This is the old bastard's story, he should be the one to tell it to you, but since his story is connected to mine, I'll give you the gist of it." He sighed again, like an old story teller wondering how to begin.

"My Dad is a lot older than I am, like a _lot_. He's 561 now. He was already over a century old when he met my mother. He lived around the time when Alchemy was first invented and he had a twin brother. They were pretty good alchemists and his twin was obsessed with immortality. Through some wicked twist of fate, he managed to gain it. He managed to create a philosopher's stone and for some reason, he made Hohenheim immortal too. Hohenheim got upset because immortality came with the price of having to feed on people's blood. So he stole the stone and ran away, where his twin could never find him. He believed that the stone was evil and if anyone else got a hold of it, the whole world will go to hell. Wait that's not right, the whole world would _be_ hell."

Alfons nodded, a habit he did when he was fervently listening to something that interested him.

"So, he wanted to destroy it. A lot easier said then done, it took him 2 centuries to figure out how to do it. In 1879, he was finally about to destroy it but then, he met my Mom. So he 'fell in love'" Edward said, making a face while drawing quotation marks in the air with his fingers. "-with her, the two of them got married and on 1899-1900, they had me and Al. When I was 6, he left us but only after he changed me did I know why."

Edward paused to sigh and look at the wall with a far away look in his eyes.

"He couldn't destroy the stone because after he married Mom, he knew that eventually, she's going to grow old and die and he never will. He didn't want to live without her so he tried to find a way to be human again. That being said, he couldn't destroy the stone because it was his lead to finding a solution. He thought that if it could grant immortality, then maybe it could take it away too. He spent years trying to figure out how the stone works and how he could reverse it's effects but eventually, he figured out that all the books he had at home weren't enough to help him find an answer."

"That's why he left?" Alfons asked.

Edward nodded. "He didn't tell us why because he didn't want me and Al to know that he wasn't human."

"He didn't come back for 12 years but we got by. Me and Al were fine without him, but Mom wasn't. She still waited for him even after all that time and maybe that was why, when _he_ came to our house, she let him without hesitation even if his voice was completely different."

Alfons blinked slowly. "Who?"

"My _uncle_." Edward spat out the word through his teeth, like it was the vilest word on the planet.

"He looked exactly like him, so when she saw him from the window, she practically tripped over her feet to open the door. I remember that night really well. Al and I were upstairs in our room and we were listening to the radio for updates on what was happening in the great war in Europe. We were talking about how lucky we were that the US was safe from the war but...wow, if we only knew that the muddy trenches we heard about on the radio were a billion times safer than our house was that night."

Alfons' heart quickened, the worst part of the story was about to happen. Now the question was, how awful was it?

"There was a scream from downstairs and we ran down as fast as we could. When we got there, she was lying on the floor, bleeding and there were 8 people there with her. One of them, I thought was my dad."

As Edward spoke, pictures began forming in Alfons' head, as if he was reliving the memories, the same time Edward was.

"5 men, a little kid, a woman and him of course. They were all strange, they were really strong and me and Al barely managed to fight them off when they attacked us but even when we got a hold of the knives in the kitchen, we stood no chance against them because they healed every time we managed to scratch them. They had strange abilities too, one of them could turn his skin to unbreakable carbon fiber and another could change his appearance to anyone else's. I remembered wanting to stab him in the face when he copied my Mom and mocked me while he crushed my arm under his foot. "

Edward snorted bitterly.

"I was too busy fighting for my life and Al's to notice anything other than the 7 monsters who were having fun tossing me around like a fucking rag doll but when I was lying on the floor, missing two limbs and slowly bleeding to death, I started screaming for Mom. I remember feeling horrified when I realized she must've died of blood loss while me and Al fought for our lives. I looked at who I thought was Hohenheim then and I asked why the hell he was just standing there. He laughed at me and told me everything, who he was, what he was and what my father was. It was a pretty long speech, but I listened to most of it. He said he didn't know why Hohenheim bothered with us, that we were only pathetic distractions. Then they left, I remembered feeling relieved that they were leaving, but then, I heard a crash and minutes later, flames were spreading to every corner of the house."

Edward's brows furrowed and he closed his eyes as he relived the horror.

"I knew then that I was going to die, that we were going to die, but I didn't want to go down without a fight."

Edward grabbed the neckline of his shirt then and pulled it down to reveal his right shoulder. Alfons gasped at what he saw, a scar, a _huge_ one was stretched out over the crook of his neck and it branched out over his shoulder and collar bone in thick, jagged lines. Alfons flinched just by looking at it. It looked like a wild animal had tried to claw Edward's arm off.

"I lost an arm and a leg but I still tried to seal up Al's wounds and drag him away from the fire. I passed out somewhere along the line, and I remembered thinking, when my vision started turning black that I was finally dying…The next thing I knew, I was awake, my limbs were reattached, I was thirsty and Hohenheim was right there beside me. He told me everything, who that man was, what they both were, what he made me. He cried, he _bawled_, and said he was sorry. But I was furious, especially when he told me that I was the only one he managed to "save". I was so angry, I felt like I could kill him several times over. In fact he had to chain me down to stop me, not that the chains really helped, I was strong enough and angry enough to break them. It took two full days for me to calm down and when I did, I left. I didn't know where I was going but it didn't matter. I just wanted to run as far away as I could."

" I spent a few months just wandering about, away from society. I was like a stray dog really, and I was so thirsty that even if Hohenheim told me it wasn't possible, I felt like I was going to die. But I refused to drink blood, I didn't want to believe that I was a monster like him, that everything was real and if I did that, then there was no way I could continue lying to myself. I was curled up in an alley, waiting for the sun to go down so I could walk the streets without getting stared at or bothered because of my dirty, torn, bloody clothes."

He paused to chuckle softly.

"That's when she found me. She took one look at me, scowled and called me disgustingly pathetic. I was too tired to even reply, but it wouldn't have mattered because she threw me over her shoulder and carried me off to the inn she was staying at. I was lucky she was on a trip to and she found me. Sensei was an alchemist too and she taught me everything there was to know about being an immortal and she let me stay with her until I slowly accepted that my life was forever changed and can never ever return to normal."

"Can I ask something?" Alfons interrupted.

"Sure, shoot." Edward replied.

"Why did she say she always coughs up blood? Is she okay?"

Edward looked to the side, hesitating, then he said. "Something happened when she was still human and she created a philosopher's stone to try and fix it but her stone was flawed and now, her insides are permanently screwed up…she's immortal but because her system is dysfunctional, she coughs up blood every day."

"What happened?"

Edward shifted and looked uncomfortable. "I don't think I have the right to tell anybody."

Alfons blinked and nodded. "Right, I'm sorry." he mumbled. He had gotten so lost in Edward's story, he forgot that there were boundaries to what you should know about other people.

"Carry on?" he asked.

Edward nodded.

"I went back with her to Japan and I lived there for a few years until Hohenheim managed to track me down. He apologized again and asked me if there was a chance that I would want to live with him again. I said no and kicked him in the face. Two days later, sensei talked to me about it, she said things I never thought I would hear from her and she made me understand that it wasn't just hard for me, but for Hohenheim too. Every two months after that, Hohenheim would send me letters and every year he dropped by just to get punched in the face by me." He laughed. "Eventually, I got tired of hating him and when he sent me the address of the cemetery where Al and mom were buried…" he trailed off and Alfons lent forward, interested.

Edward exhaled heavily.

"For some reason, I decided to go live with him. Maybe because Sensei managed to convince me that the old bastard actually deserved a bit of pity, or maybe it was because I realized mom would probably want me to keep an eye on him, but I did. And here I am today."

They were silent for a few seconds as Alfons absorbed everything he had just learned. It sounded like a supernatural tragedy and it was almost too horrifying to believe. An immortal father, who only wanted to be human for his family, he just tried his best and what he came home to was…Poor Edward, poor Hohenheim...and even if he never met them, Alfons felt for Edward's mother and brother.

"Can I ask you something?"

Edward asked suddenly, making Alfons look up in surprise.

"What's your story? How long exactly…do you have?"

The question caught him off guard and he looked away for the first time since Edward started talking. He wasn't comfortable discussing it with Edward, however he felt that it was only fair after everything Edward had just shared with him.

"I got diagnosed with cancer last December. My Uncle took me to many hospitals but they could only do so much. Ever since I was little, I've been prone to getting sick. We thought nothing of the symptoms at first and we only realized that I had cancer when it was too late. I went under chemotherapy for a few months and it shrunk the tumor but shortly afterward, it grew again. They never told me straight out but I knew it was hopeless, they wanted to start the chemo again but I refused and I decided to come back home, here. They said I only have five to seven months left."

He said. No need to mention, that death was known for jumping the gun when it came to cancer patients. His mother was given 8 months but she died in three. He didn't want to tell Edward that because he was pretty sure that if it was spoken aloud, his resolve to be happy and positive for as long as he was alive, would crumble to dust and his inner pessimist (which he had barely managed to shove to the very back of his mind) would come back with a vengeance.

Edward hummed thoughtfully and Alfons looked up to find him staring at the wall with a pensive look on his face.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, then Alfons, realized he hadn't asked one pretty fundamental question.

"Edward?"

"Hm?"

"Do you have fangs?"

Edward blinked and then he looked like Alfons had just asked him if he liked cotton candy and unicorns. "No. I said I was _technically_ a vampire. According to myths and legends, that's what I am because I drink blood. Aside from everything I've confirmed so far, every other thing about "vampires" is false. So, in case you're wondering," He started ticking off his fingers. " No I don't turn into a bat, I do have a reflection in the mirror, crosses don't bother me…that much. I'm an atheist so." He shrugged.

"If you stab me with a wooden stake, I'll just yank it out and stab you back. The sun doesn't burn my skin, and I laugh at Holy water. Hmm, what else…Oh and aside from the smell, garlic doesn't bug me either."

"You laugh at Holy water?" Alfons asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's bullshit, just like the rest of the stuff that compose the pathetic man-made lie that we call "Religion." Oh this normal water is now "Holy" because I fucking said so, now be gone demon!" Edward said, holding his hands up and pretending to wave a bottle of holy water with one and pretending to hold a bible with the other.

Despite being raised by a Catholic family, Alfons found himself laughing at Edward's actions. The Armstrongs were a Catholics but aside from Uncle Alex and Aunt Catherine, they weren't that religious. Neither was Alfons for that matter. As far as he was concerned, the existence of heaven and God was unknowable. He believed that there's an equal possibility of God existing and not existing so he respected devout followers and Atheists equally.

"If a god really existed, then I shouldn't be alive." Edward scoffed.

Alfons sighed softly through his nose. "I guess so."

He didn't even realize how quiet it was in Edward's room until his stomach growled. It was embarrassingly loud and Alfons found himself blushing when both he and Edward looked down at his stomach.

"Hungry?" Edward asked.

Alfons laughed sheepishly and rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "Yeah. I just had a granola bar this morning."

Edward jumped down from the coffin and offered Alfons a hand. Alfons took it hesitantly. Edward pulled him up and turned away as soon as he was on his feet. "Let's go to the kitchen." he said as he walked out of the room, gesturing for Alfons to follow.

"Wait, so the people who attacked you that night, they were all immortals too right?"

Alfons asked as they walked down the bright, clear halls. The contrast between Edward's room and the rest of the house was so great that for a second Alfons found himself wondering how the two could co-exist.

"Yep. He tried to create a new, better stone after Hoenheim took the original one and he used his creation on those people to see if it would work. Obviously it did and more. But it had a flaw, they need to drink an immortal's blood so they could stay alive. Unlike us, who only get weak, they can actually die. They tried to kill us several times, that's how we know what we do now. They turned people into immortals just so they could eat. We don't know if the immortals they created to be food die but we assumed they do."

"Are they still out there?" Alfons asked in alarm.

"We don't know. They stopped finding us five years ago."

"Do you think they're out to get you still?"

"I don't know, there's a 50-50 chance that they are. Maybe they got tired of playing hide and go seek with us after a century. The world _is_ a big place after all, you can spend an eternity playing world-wide tag with someone and never get caught." Edward said with a smile.

They got to the kitchen then and Edward went straight to the huge French door fridge and Alfons could only blink in surprise when he opened it. It was fully stocked to feed a family of 5 for a week and Alfons tilted his head in confusion.

"Why is there food in your fridge?" Alfons asked.

When he turned to him, Edward looked just as confused. "Because we like to eat, is that a problem?"

Alfons just stared at him and almost as if a light bulb flicked on above his head, his eyes widened and his mouth formed a small 'o'

"Right…Well, I did say that every other vampire myth isn't true. We don't need to eat food but that doesn't mean we _can't_. I told you my body isn't far from yours when it comes to composition. I can digest food and it still tastes good to me. We eat as an indulgence more than anything really." he turned to the fridge again.

"Now what would you want? I can't cook so anything that needs to be put over a stove is out of the question." Edward said, scanning the contents of the fridge with his eyes.

They ended up settling for frozen pizza and they sat at the table that Hohenheim and Izumi sat on when they walked in earlier, sipping on some soda while they waited for it to cook in the oven.

"So if you eat food, then how come you never eat lunch at school?" Alfons asked.

"I told you, we can but we don't have to. And cafeteria food tastes like animal feed, it's awful." Edward said, making a face as he took a sip of his soda. He stared at it as he put it down and with a simple tug, he pulled out the pop tab.

"Hey Alfons, watch this." He said with a small smile, like a kid who wanted to show off a cool trick.

He held his palm out and dragged the broken end of the pop tab over it, digging it in his flesh until blood bubbled to the surface. Alfons flinched and leant forward as an automatic reaction, however before he could utter a distressed "What the hell are you doing?" Edward swiped his other palm over the cut and when the blood was wiped clean, the cut was gone, as if it had never been there in the first place.

Alfons could only stare, bewildered and fascinated. Edward's grin widened. "Cool huh?"

Alfons shook his head and nodded slowly. Until that moment, this whole thing about Edward still seemed like ¼ fantasy but after seeing that little stunt, Alfons finally accepted that it was pure, 100% reality.

"Aside from you, Hohenheim, Ms. Izumi and those other guys, are there any more vampires out there?"

Alfons asked. Edward shrugged.

"Who knows? Before I met Sensei, I thought me, Hohenheim and those bastards were the only ones. Like I said, the world is a big place. It's definitely possible that there's several more out there somewhere."

"Hello kids!"

Edward looked at something behind him and immediately his expression turned sour. Alfons turned and smiled when he saw Hohenheim approaching them with a thick book in his hand.

"Hello Mr. Hohenheim." Alfons greeted.

"Just Hohenheim Mr. Heiderich." he said with a smile. "Having fun?" he asked them as he walked over to the fridge.

"We were until a second ago." Edward grumbled.

Hohenheim just smiled and ignored the unfriendly look his son was giving him.

"You know Alfons, you seem like a really sweet, decent young man. Not to mention terribly dashing. No offense to my son, but I couldn't imagine how he managed to bag someone like you. Thank you so much. Heaven knows he needed somebody." he said as he pulled out a bottle of milk.

The sound of a soda can getting crushed to scrap metal came from beside him and Alfons could only rub his neck sheepishly and laugh, both at Hohenheim's comment and the murderous look he just knew Edward must be giving his father right now.

"Do you need anything else?" Edward grumbled. "Because if you don't, then go _away_!"

Hohenheim calmly raised a hand as he closed the fridge door. "Alright, alright, you want some more alone time with your sweetheart, I get it. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." he said as he walked away, one hand raised in a parting wave.

Alfons looked down, slightly discomfited by the implications of Hohenheim's parting statement. From beside him, the sound of Edward's crushed soda can getting further mashed sounded and Alfons turned his head to gaze at Edward. His ocher eyes were still focused on his father's retreating back and Alfons watched as he snorted and rose to throw his mangled soda can in the garbage. He paused with his back to Alfons after he had disposed of the can and Alfons tilted his head, wondering if something was wrong.

"Hey,"

Edward began hesitantly, turning his head slightly in Alfons' direction, enough that he could see his mouth and nose but not his eyes, which were obscured by his long bangs. He paused again and Alfons tilted his head to the side, curious and waiting.

"Just so there's no confusion…Just this once, Hohenheim wasn't just being his usual lunatic self right?...About you and me?"

Alfons looked down at the table and sighed, knowing exactly what Edward was asking. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to say what he spent days trying to figure out.

"No. He wasn't. If that's what you really want then…"

Edward turned around and blue met gold as their gazes connected. Alfons looked into those stunning ocher eyes and hoped that Edward could see the rest of his sentence through his eyes.

If Alfons was what he really wanted then, he could have him.

Edward smiled softly and plopped back down on the seat next to his. He didn't say anything, he didn't even look at him, but the smile didn't fade from his lips.

* * *

Shortly after eating their pizza, Alfons decided that it was time to go home and though against it, Edward accompanied him to Hohenheim's study so he could say goodbye. Hohenheim bid him farewell and told him to visit again.

They stood, in front of one of the many glass windows, watching as Edward's red car drove away.

"He's a nice young man. What he saw in Edward I would never know."

Izumi commented. Hohenheim chuckled. "He is. He kind of reminds me of my other son, they're both kind-hearted and meek. I'm happy that Edward found someone like him, I think he's just the kind of person that boy needs."

There was a few seconds of silence between them, then Izumi spoke.

"You know, I was already planning to come here before you invited me over."

"Oh? For what reason?"

"I ran into somebody in Okinawa. He asked me about Edward and he wasn't human."

The light that reflected on Hohenheim's glasses concealed his eyes but his mouth was a hard line as he let that information sink in. "You're sure about that?" he asked. Izumi nodded, her dark eyes somber.

"He claimed to be an old classmate of his in New York. I met him on the bus and when the bus stopped because of a malfunction in the engine, I noticed that I couldn't hear breathing or a heartbeat."

"Edward didn't have even an _acquaintance_ in New York." Hohenheim replied.

Izumi nodded. "I thought as much, I knew how anti-social that boy was and I was really surprised when you told me he had a special human friend. But anyway, he knew where you two were before you came here. I told him you moved to Ireland… Unless you have any other vampire friends I should know about, I think that guy is following you and I really think you should be careful."

Hohenheim nodded. He knew they couldn't be gone. It was only a matter of time before they found them again. It was a good thing they chose to live on the outskirts this time. If…_when_ they found them, the chances of a bystander witnessing or getting hurt would be small to non-existent.

* * *

It was snowing again by the time they made it back to his house and Alfons' hand hesitated on the door handle of the car as he stared at it in wonder.

"Well, that wasn't as bad as it could have been…now I have to go back and face sensei alone."

Alfons turned to Edward and smiled at the expression on his face. He reached out and patted his shoulder comfortingly.

"It's okay, you can't die so you'll be fine."

Edward 'hmph'ed and said nothing more.

Alfons bit his lip as he grasped the door handle. "So, see you on Monday?"

Edward sighed. "Yeah."

Alfons hesitated again. Edward was officially his…his boyfriend now right? Should he kiss him goodbye or something? He glanced at Edward's lips.

He _wanted_ to but at the same time he didn't because…well, it just felt too soon and too cheesy-chick-flick-ish.

Edward seemed to notice his reluctance to get out of the car. "Are you ok?" he asked.

Alfons nodded and pushed the door open. "Yeah. See you later ok?"

There was something in Edward's eyes that made Alfons feel like he knew what he had just been thinking about and he looked like he wanted to say something but he just shrugged.

"Kay. Bye."

Alfons got out of the car and waved as Edward drove away. When the red Camaro disappeared from his sight, he sighed.

* * *

On Monday morning, the first thing Alfons noticed when he woke up was the light coming from the window. It was bright, but not the golden tinged brightness of a sunny morning, it was more like white-bright. He walked over to the window and smiled when he saw why.

Snow. Lots of it.

The ground, rooftops, trees and even the cars driving carefully over the slippery roads were all topped with a fine layer of snow. Alfons found himself childishly excited as he laced up his snow boots and wound the thickest scarf he owned around his neck. His last winter was here and he was going to enjoy every second of it. He grabbed a thick wool cap to keep his ears warm and he rushed out the door like a 4 year old on Christmas morning.

The snow started falling when he got to school and Alfons thought it'd be a waste to just watch it from the inside so shortly after going inside and wishing Riza and Roy a good day, he walked back out. He ended up next to the gym, in the place where Edward took him to, that night when he helped him get away from Russell.

The picnic tables, like everything else was covered in snow and Alfons only spared them a glance before turning his face heavenward, squinting slightly when a few flakes landed on his glasses and obscured his vision.

"I would throw a snowball at you but I think you'd be pretty pissed if I ruined your moment."

A voice commented from behind him. Alfons jumped and whirled around.

Edward leaned against a wall, one foot propped up and his hands shoved in the pockets of his black winter coat. He didn't wear a single speck of red on him and somewhere in the back of his mind, Alfons wondered what happened to all the red clothes he used to wear.

"Hi." he greeted.

Edward sauntered away from the wall and came to stand beside him.

"Hey." he greeted back.

"What are you doing out here?" Alfons asked.

"It's a lot easier to like snow when the cold doesn't bother you and it's a lot cooler to stand under a snowfall than to watch it from behind a window." Edward replied.

He offered Alfons a small smile and Alfons was momentarily stumped as he recalled his thoughts last Saturday after Edward drove him home. Things were different between them now and he felt like he should act like it but he automatically shied away from the thought of being affectionate with Edward for some reason. The two times that they kissed, Edward was the one to initiate the contact.

He bit his lip, at a loss of what to say or do.

"Err…um…"

He began. Edward raised an eyebrow and sighed. He turned away as if he was nervous and when he turned back, his expression was a mixture of awkwardness and resolution.

"I saw you looking at my mouth last weekend….correct me if I'm wrong but…if you want to kiss me, then…then just do it!" Edward said, then he turned away again, mortified at what he had just said.

For a few seconds Alfons just stared, then before he could stop himself, a chuckle rose from his throat. Alfons blinked, then covered his mouth as a series of giggles erupted from his throat. Oh goodness, they were _both_ ridiculously useless when it came to romance.

"What's so funny?" Edward demanded.

"Nothing, nothing." he was just laughing at how big of a dork they both were.

Edward pouted and his expression implied that he thought Alfons was making fun of him. Alfons shook his head and stepped closer, ignoring his bashful impulses as he leaned down the few inches that separated them and shyly pressed his lips against Edward's. The kiss only lasted for two seconds and when Alfons pulled away, his lips tingled. Though, if that was because of the contact or the fact that Edward's lips were downright freezing, he wasn't sure.

Edward stared at him with an unreadable expression on his face, then he reached up, pulled off Alfons' glasses and yanked him forward by his scarf. Edward kissed him firmly, his head tilted to one side so that their mouths fitted together perfectly. Alfons closed his eyes. He had never kissed anyone like this before but he responded, praying to whoever would listen that he was doing it right. Edward's lips were very, very cold and that made the kiss not as pleasant as it could've been but they were soft and the feeling of them moving over his combined with the faint whiff of fabric softener and shampoo emanating from Edward was nice.

It reminded him that this mysterious, beautiful, golden wonder saw something in him that made him worthy enough for him to pursue.

Their noses lightly bumped together when Edward pulled away and even if his own lips were frigid, Alfons wanted Edward's wintry lips back against his own.

"I don't want you to get frostbite." Edward mumbled.

Alfons snorted and shook his head. "I never got frostbite before, it's on my list of things to experience before I die." he mumbled back. Their heads were close enough that even whispers could be heard clearly.

Edward smirked and Alfons eyes closed just as he felt icy lips envelope his own.

* * *

"My lips are numb." Alfons muttered as he massaged his fingers over his lips, trying to get some feeling back into them.

Beside him Edward snorted. "I warned you."

Alfons nodded. "Right, making out in the snow, bad."

They were walking to Alfons' English class and in every hall they passed, people stared at them. They ignored them however and acted like they were casually strolling in a park all by themselves. Despite losing feeling in his lips, kissing Edward had put Alfons in a strange high and he was in too good a mood to even pay attention to the curious eyes trailing them. Or to notice that he and Edward were walking a bit closer than deemed ordinary.

Edward snorted again but when Alfons turned to him, he was smiling.

Alfons smiled as well. This was an excellent start, maybe saying yes to Edward was a good idea after all.

* * *

**Niagara county, New York**

A hooded figure stood on a cliff, mostly concealed by the mist that rose up from the New York side Niagara falls.

Amethyst eyes gazed at the bridge that separated New York from Canada and narrowed as they moved from the bridge to the foreign country on the other end of it.

That woman in Japan lied to him, she was of no use and she was suspicious of him too. He should never show himself to her again, too dangerous.

He knew for a fact that they were in New York but he searched the entire state and they weren't there. He searched New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont too but they weren't there either. That only leaves Massachusetts, Rhode Island and the Canadian provinces.

He sneered. Even after 3 centuries, he was still impatient and all this searching is really starting to piss him off. However, they couldn't have gone that far and he'll find them soon enough. Just another month or two, that wasn't too bad. Besides, when he finally gets his hands on him, it would be well worth the wait.

He smiled coldly.

"Just you wait Edward Elric. I'll find you soon enough. I can't wait to see the look in those pretty gold eyes while I gouged them slowly from your pretty blond head."

* * *

dum, dum DUUUUUUM

Don't worry though, the danger would be coming later on ^^

Ugh, I don't feel so good, my back was aching halfway through finishing this chapter and I just barely managed to ignore it. . Ok, I'mma go lie down now.

Thanks for reading everybody :)


	10. Chapter 10

Hey everyone ^^.

Sorry for the later than usual update, turning 18 was quite an ordeal XD. Yay! I'm a legal adult now XD.

but enough about me, heeeeeere's chapter ten!

Sorry for all the errors, I'll go back and correct them later. I've spent hours trying to finish this chapter and my laptop is OLD and it seems to be wheezing out it's last breaths so I have to take it easy on it . I'll give it a break now XD

EDIT:

Oh God, I'm such a ditz, I realized I accidentally omitted a whole chunk of the scene in the end XD. But now I fixed it, so yeah...

I also corrected a few things here and there and I think I got them all XD. If I didn't then, I'm even more of a ditz then I originally thought.

Ok, Enjoy!

* * *

For the tenth time in less than a minute, Alfons' eyes shifted from his Physics text book to the silent blond sitting next to him. They were sitting on the couch in his living room, a measly 4 inches of space between them. Had Grandpa Grumman not been watching a movie in the basement at that moment, he would've been comfortably using Edward as a pillow, or coaxing him into using him as his pillow.

They've been officially "together" for a few weeks now and Alfons was steadily getting more and more comfortable about casually showing affection toward Edward. However, he was careful not to do anything that indicated the change in their relationship when anyone else was around. Not only did PDA not suit his tastes, he had a feeling that Edward didn't fancy it either. So all the affectionate contact between them only ever happened when they were alone, whenever Edward came over, which was often.

Edward was reading their History text book with a bored look on his face and Alfons watched, amused when he wrinkled his nose and rolled his eyes.

"You know Edward, if History bored you so much, you shouldn't have taken it in the first place." he commented. "Besides, you probably know more than any of the history books and teachers in the school." he added with a small laugh.

Edward shrugged and made a face at the book as if it had just insulted him, which it probably did.

"I had to fill in a course, besides I took it just to see how many things they got wrong and then laugh when they feed wrong info to the students." Edward said.

"Well I'm happy the educational system amuses you. Aren't you tired of high school yet? You must've repeated it a hundred times by now." Alfons commented, sneaking a glance at the hallway leading to the basement then at Edward's shoulder. What are the chances that Grandpa Grumman could come up for something the very moment he leant his head on Edward's shoulder?

"No. I've been to university a few times but I like high school better. It's easier to intimidate people into leaving you alone."

Alfons gave up worrying about getting caught and lightly rested his head on Edward's shoulder with a soft sigh.

Edward wasn't as affectionate as he was but whenever Alfons felt like being touchy and cuddly, he didn't complain and sometimes even went along with it. Edward shifted so they could both be comfortable and Alfons wondered to himself why he still liked leaning against Edward when he was absolutely not pillow material. He wasn't skinny enough to have elbows that are too deadly to be in close range with his ribs but he was all hard muscle and he had a feeling they'd be wonderful to stare at but they didn't exactly make the best material to rest on.

"Bored?" Edward asked.

Alfons blinked. "No."

Edward didn't say anything but he reached over to take his Physics book from his hands and flip it…right side up. Alfons blinked, he hadn't even realized it was upside down. The hell? When did that happen?

"I don't think you'd be interested in a book you didn't even know was upside down." Edward commented

It wasn't that he was bored with it, it was just that he was too distracted by Edward to pay it much attention.

"Alright fine, I'm bored." Alfons replied.

He hadn't even finished saying it when they heard the door to the basement open. Alfons jumped away from Edward as if he'd been tasered and lifted his Physics text book to his face, pretending to be deeply immersed in it as Grandpa Grumman walked out into the living room.

"How's the studying coming along boys?"

They both looked up and smiled as the elderly man stopped behind the couch to pat their heads in a fatherly gesture. He had gotten used to Edward coming over surprisingly quickly and by now, he had grown to like him enough that he treated him like a second grandson.

"We're almost done" Alfons replied.

"Oh, good. I'm about to go make dinner. Ed, are you staying?"

"Um no, Hohenheim needs my help with something later. I'll be leaving in a few minutes, maybe next time."

Edward replied, looking up at Grandpa Grumman apologetically. Alfons turned to him, wondering if he was telling the truth or just making an excuse not to socialize.

"Awwe, okay. But you don't know what you'll be missing! I make a pretty mean Pasta alla Carbonara."

Edward chuckled. "I guess it's my loss then."

* * *

"What does Hohenheim need your help with?" Alfons asked as he walked Edward out to his car.

"He didn't need help with anything but he said he needed to tell me something."

Edward replied, looking up at the clear night time sky with a distracted look on his face.

"What do you think he wants to tell you?"

Edward's eyebrows furrowed slightly and one corner of his mouth turned down.

"I don't know. But I have a feeling that whatever it is, I won't like it."

Alfons' own eyebrows furrowed. Normally, Edward wouldn't like _anything _that Hohenheim has to say but this time, Edward seemed genuinely troubled by something.

"Well…whatever it is, I wanna hear about it okay?" Alfons asked hesitantly as Edward opened the door to his car. He hoped that whatever bothered Edward and whatever news Hohenheim had for his son, in the end, everything would turn out fine.

Edward nodded, seemingly distracted again. He let go of the car door handle and to Alfons' surprise, pulled him into a brief hug. Alfons smiled softly into Edward's shoulder and lightly patted his back.

Just as abruptly as he pulled him into the hug, Edward broke the embrace, his face turned to the side. Alfons' smile got wider, finding it amusing that despite the fact that Edward was physically incapable of blushing, he could still tell when he would've been blushing if he could. Edward turned to get in his car but Alfons held him back. He turned to him curiously and Alfons just smiled and pecked him on the lips.

Edward looked even more adorably flustered when he pulled away and Alfons felt a small surge of pride at being able to get that sort of reaction out of him.

"Right. See you around." Edward said as he got into his car.

Alfons nodded, smile still in place and waved as Edward drove away.

He took his time getting back into the house. The winter air was crisp and clean and even if it could turn his lips blue if he stayed out too long, it felt good against his skin. He let himself get lost in the sound of snow crunching under his feet and laughed at himself when he tripped on the porch steps. When he re-entered the house through the back door, the kitchen smelled of cream, peppers, mushrooms and other spices. Alfons inhaled a lungful appreciatively and nearly fell over again while trying to slide off his winter boots.

"Alfons, could you put the pasta in the boiling water please? And have you seen the basil?" Grandpa Grumman asked, not looking up from the sauce he was stirring.

"Sure thing. I'm pretty sure the basil is in the crisper, was it not there?" Alfons asked as he rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands.

"I looked, but I couldn't find them. My eyes must be worse than I thought." Grandpa Grumman said chuckling sheepishly.

Alfons dropped the pasta into the boiling water and opened the fridge. He rummaged in the crisper for a bit and managed to find the basil buried under some lettuce and several bundles of lemon grass.

"I found them! I'll chop them up for you." Alfons said, standing up immediately after closing the fridge.

"Thank you. Make them into really thin, little pieces would you?" Grandpa Grumman said as he grated some cheese over the sauce.

"Okay." Alfons replied, grabbing a knife and a chopping board.

"Edward gone?" Grandpa Grumman asked conversationally.

"Yeah." Alfons answered absently as he concentrated on cutting the basil into the tiniest pieces he could.

"You and him have gotten pretty close huh?"

The rhythm of Alfons' knife against the chopping board faltered and Alfons felt his shoulders stiffen the tiniest bit. When he decided to give in to his attraction to Edward, he hadn't exactly thought about Grandpa Grumman. Shortly after he and Edward got together, he decided that he would just hide it. He thought it would be easy enough but then again, Grandpa Grumman was pretty observant for someone his age.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I guess so." He said, hoping his tone sounded innocent enough.

"That's good. You have a best friend now, should I be expecting a girlfriend sometime soon?"

Alfons chuckled to hide the awkwardness he felt. "No. The girls here are a bit…too outgoing for me."

"Awwe, just give them a chance. Besides, I think you _need_ someone outgoing. You're a bit too mild." Grandpa Grumman said, waving the cheese grater in the air as if it would help persuade Alfons. Alfons just smiled and shook his head.

He _did_ found someone outgoing and he agreed that perhaps he did need him…however he didn't think that Grandpa Grumman would be too happy if he knew who _he_ was.

* * *

The next morning, the sun was out and Edward wasn't at school.

It's rays made the mounds of snow outside look like crushed piles of diamonds and Alfons nearly slipped a few times, distracted by the thousands of individual sparkles within the pale white on the ground.

The window in his English class had a good view of the snow covered school grounds and Alfons spent most of the period gazing down at the illuminated whiteness, wondering to himself what problem Edward had with the sun that he didn't come to school whenever it was shining brightly in the sky. Wondering about it caused him to think of Edward and thinking of Edward caused him to remember that he still didn't know if what Hohenheim had to say was really worth the anxiousness Edward exuded last night.

From the moment the bell rang after first period, to the moment when the final bell for school rang, Alfons worried over it. Edward was his best friend, whom he also happened to be attracted to and he loved him, not in the romantic, I-will-love-you-forever way, it was too early for him to say that but he did care about him a lot, enough that he wanted to look out for him and ensure that he was ok.

"You seem to be really distracted, everything ok?"

Riza asked him as they drove home. Alfons turned away from the window to look at her.

"Hmm?"

"Katrina's been trying to get your attention for the past 5 minutes, is something wrong?" she asked again.

Alfons turned to look at the 8 month old baby girl staring absently into space with drooping eyelids and blinked. She must have given up trying to get his attention and just decided to sleep instead.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess I am a bit distracted. A friend of mine missed school today and I was just wondering if he was ok."

"Which friend are you talking about Alfons?" Roy asked, eyeing him through the rearview mirror. Alfons opened his mouth to reply but Riza suddenly cut him off with a question of her own.

"Oh, Alfons I just remembered. Would you mind if we come over for dinner tonight? It's been a while since we had dinner with Grandpa."

Alfons wondered if she was trying to keep Alfons from answering Roy's question, her interjection seemed just a little too rushed. But then again, what reason would she have for wanting to do that? So he brushed it off and answered her question.

"No, not at all, I think Grandpa would like that actually."

After getting home, Alfons waited for the Mustangs to walk through their door before getting the key and unlocking his own. He wasn't paying any particular attention to what he was doing so when someone poked him on both ribs, he gasped out a yelp and jumped in surprise. His key fell onto the porch step as he whirled around.

For a second he almost didn't recognize the person standing there wearing nothing but jeans and a striped hoodie, but then he took in the pale skin and the long blond hair and he exhaled loudly in relief.

"Edward." He breathed. "Geez, don't do that! You scared me."

Edward only smirked and shrugged. "You react the same way every single time I poke your sides. It's too amusing. You'd do it too if you were me I can assure you. Have some sense of humor Alfons." He said as he bent down to pick up Alfons' key. Alfons held out a hand for it but Edward ignored it and unlocked the door himself, handing the key back to Alfons as soon as the door was open.

"How was school today?" Edward asked as they entered the house.

Alfons shrugged casually, putting one hand against the wall to support himself as he took off his shoes.

"It was ok. Russell mad a pass at me in Physics. He's picking me up later so we could go to his house."

Edward gave him a look that was equal parts horrified and stunned and Alfons laughed.

"I'm kidding, have some sense of Humor Edward." he commented with a smirk.

Edward made a face at him and grumbled something that sounded like "not funny" under his breath.

"What about you? How was your day?" Alfons asked, moving to the kitchen to get himself something to snack on. He heard the sound of Edward's unzipping his boots and shortly afterward, Edward walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the table.

"It was boring. I had to make snowmen and knock them down with a baseball bat just to amuse myself."

Alfons laughed from behind the fridge door and almost hit his head on the freezer as he stood up.

"Sounds a lot more interesting than my day." he commented as he took out a bag of chips from the cupboard. He took the chips and the bottle of ginger ale he got from the fridge and set it on the table as he sat down on the seat across from Edward. He tried to twist the cap off but it was probably left in the fridge bits too long, because even when he used all his strength, he couldn't as much as make it budge.

Edward sighed and took the bottle from his hands. He opened it with a simple twist of his fingers and handed it back to him. Alfons looked down at the table as he took it and mumbled a "Thanks" at him.

Alfons took a sip of his ginger ale and Edward took the bag of chips, opened it and stuffed a piece into his mouth. He was looking at the wall, his ocher eyes distant. Alfons' brow furrowed as he wondered what was going on the shorter blonde's mind.

"What did Hohenheim say?"

He asked casually, remembering what he'd been worrying about since that morning and hoping that whatever it was, it wasn't bad.

Edward pulled out another chip and stared at it absently as he answered. "Nothing important."

The look on his face made Alfons doubt his answer but then again, if Edward didn't want to tell him about it, then it was probably a personal thing that he shouldn't try to pry out of him. Plus he didn't look upset so Alfons was ok with not knowing whatever it was that he's hiding, if he's hiding anything at all.

"Ok…anything else you did today other than murdering snowmen?" Alfons asked, reaching over to grab the bag of chips from Edward.

"I had to shovel the drive way." Edward said, wrinkling his nose slightly. "Playing hookie is meant for relaxing, not doing stupid chores." he added.

Alfons popped a chip into his mouth and spoke as he chewed. "Think about it this way, if you didn't shovel the driveway, your car would've gotten stuck in the snow and broken down. Why did you ditch school anyway?"

"Because the sun was out." Edward replied.

"No, no, I got that part. I'm asking for a specific reason. You still hadn't told me what it is about the sun that bothers you." Alfons said, tilting his head to the side.

Edward blinked and pursed his lips, as if wondering how to say something. However, before he had the time to figure it out, Alfons' chest constricted and he began coughing as if he was choking on air. Edward leaned forward in concern but Alfons raised a hand to stop him. He stood and ran to the bathroom, making it just in time when the blood and mucus rose to his throat. He spat it out into sink, and tried not to watch it go down the drain as he rinsed his mouth.

When he got back to the kitchen, Edward was staring out through the blinds on the back door. He turned when Alfons returned and his expression was a mixture of concern and anxiety.

"Everything ok?" he asked.

He looked like he was trying to suppress the apprehension he felt and Alfons helped him by smiling comfortingly and nodding. His illness was something they both knew was irreversible and hopeless and though they hadn't particularly spoken about how upsetting those facts were, they accepted them.

"The sun is still out, if you want, I'd show you why I can't come to school whenever it's too sunny."

Alfons blinked, suddenly curious and excited.

"Sure." he agreed.

* * *

Conveniently, Alfons hadn't taken his winter coat off since he got home and they only paused for a few seconds so that they could put on his winter boots before exiting the house. The sun was halfway down the sky when they stepped out and it shone directly onto the lawn, blinding Alfons momentarily when they stepped through the door.

He squinted and blinked twice to see through the yellow orange glare shining down on him and he blinked one more time when he made it safely down the porch steps and onto the snow covered lawn. Edward cleared the porch steps in one jump and landed next to him with a soft crunch. He patted Alfons' arm twice as a signal to follow him and began trudging through the snow, toward the tire swing. There was probably a foot and a half of snow on the ground and walking through it reminded Alfons of the static-y clips he saw on TV of astronauts walking in slow motion on the crater infested surface of the moon.

When they made it to the oak tree that the swing was tied to, Edward grabbed the rope with one hand and tugged on it hard a few times to shake off the snow from the branches of the tree. It rained down on them like a bucket of finely crushed ice and Alfons wrinkled his nose as he brushed off the bits of white that landed on his shoulders and hair. The flakes that landed on his face and snuck it's way into the space between the nape of his neck and the collar of his winter coat melted a second after impact, leaving his skin tingling slightly from the added chill.

After he was sure there wasn't any snow left to rain down on him, Edward grabbed the tire swing's rope with both hands and pulled himself up, planting his feet firmly on the hole of the tire and swinging himself agilely from side to side. Alfons moved a few feet in front to watch him, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets to keep them warm. Up on the tire swing, Edward was in the direct path of the sun light and Alfons stared up at his face, trying to decipher any change that the light could have been causing.

"I don't see anything." he commented, squinting up at Edward just in case he was missing something.

"Just wait. Besides, I'd have to go under some shade before you could really see a difference." Edward replied, stepping up onto the concave curve of the upper half of the tire. Alfons stepped closer and started to lightly push the tire swing back and forth, waiting eagerly and curiosity burning as he tried to imagine what he was about to discover about Edward.

"Hey." Edward began. Alfons looked up at him with a soft "Hm?"

"Do you have any plans for Christmas break?"

Alfons thought about that for a minute. "Not particularly, no. How about you?" he asked. Did vampires even celebrate Christmas?

"You're not flying back to Germany?"

Alfons shook his head no. As much as he liked the idea, he had sworn to spend the rest of his time here and that was what he was going to do. Besides, he had people he cared a great deal about here too, not to mention that Uncle Alex mentioned something about flying over to Stratford for either Christmas or New Year.

"Why are you asking?" Alfons queried.

Edward gazed straight ahead at the bright sunlight and Alfons wondered if the light hurt his eyes or not.

"Well…five to seven months…it's really short. And if it's all you have then, you have to do as many of the things that make you as happy as possible…I thought that if you wanted to go to Germany to see your uncle, then maybe I could go with you," Edward said and Alfons' heart stuttered when he realized, that when he said "if it's all _you_ have" he was using 'you' as a subject pronoun and he was referring to both of them. Alfons smiled and almost didn't hear the rest of Edward's sentence because he realized that Edward musn't have wanted to waste a single second of the time he had left with him.

"-since you're not going…err…well, I don't believe in any religion but I, well _we_ –it was Hohenheim's idea and I just so happened to agree, were wondering if you and your Grandpa want to spend Christmas over at our house."

Alfons blinked and beamed. "I'd like that. I'll ask grandpa about it."

Edward still kept his gaze straight ahead at the setting sun and he nodded.

"You know, you can actually be really sweet and thoughtful if you tried." Alfons commented.

Edward looked predictably flustered and he abruptly turned his head to side with a scoff, making Alfons grin. Edward could be so cute sometimes.

Edward began swinging again and he kept his gaze on straight ahead again as he spoke.

"Life is cruel and a giant pain in the ass but sometimes," he snuck a meaningful glance down at Alfons. "It's not so bad, and when it dangles happiness right above your head, even if that happiness comes with a price, you might as well grab on to it, hold on for as long as you could and try to take what you can. Because it could be a long, long time before you can find something like it again."

Alfons smile slowly faded and he looked down at the snow.

"What are you going to do, after I'm gone?" Alfons asked softly, looking up at Edward from under his lashes.

Edward was quiet for a few seconds, then he looked down at Alfons with an unreadable expression, his golden eyes soft.

"Go back to how things were before you came along. It's gonna suck and it'd be so boring again without you but hey, what can I do?" Edward shrugged.

Alfons went silent as he shifted his gaze back to the snow at his feet. There _was_ something he could do and Alfons had never mentioned it before because not only was he not up for the idea, he was afraid of how Edward would react, especially after he told Alfons how he reacted when Hohenheim "saved" him. Edward said it took him days to calm down and years to accept the damage that had been done.

He sighed softly through his nose.

"What are you thinking about?"

Alfons looked up to find Edward staring at him curiously and Alfons averted his gaze as he answered.

"Nothing."

"Bull, it's not nothing. C'mmon tell me." Edward persisted.

Alfons sighed. "I wonder if it'd upset you…I'm not suggesting anything here but you know… there _is_ something you could do…if this," He gestured to the two of them with one hand. "got so …deep, not that I think it really would, you _could_ keep me here…for as long as _you_ like." He said, staring straight into Edward's eyes and hoping the message got across clearly.

Edward's lips drew into a hard line and a small dent formed between his eyebrows so Alfons assumed that he got it. Edward drew in a breath and expelled it loudly through his mouth.

"I'm just curious." Alfons added.

and he was. He wanted to know, that if and only _if_ their bond got so deep that it truly could be considered love or something close to it, would Edward resort to permanently altering Alfons the way he had been altered so that he'd never have to lose him?

"I wouldn't do that to you…Would you understand what I mean when I say that I don't want to play God?" Edward asked.

Slowly, Alfons nodded, amazed that someone who was eternally godless could be so…moral.

"I may not believe in god but I know that even if I couldn't be considered human, I'm just as tiny and insignificant as every single one in this planet. Even if I understood Hohenheim's reasons for saving me, if I could go back in time and stop him, I would." Edward leveled his gaze so that he was staring straight into Alfons' eyes.

"I have no right to take another person's humanity from them."

"Unless you really want me to, in which case… I would consider it…because as much as I wouldn't wish this life on somebody else, I know that everyone has the right to choose for themselves. If you're completely reasonable and resolved when you tell me that you want to live forever and you're well aware of all the consequences then…maybe I…would ask Hohenheim to change you."

"So, he still has the philosopher's stone then?" Alfons asked.

Edward nodded. "He still hadn't found a way to reverse his immortality by the time Mom and Al got killed." He grimaced slightly when he said it and Alfons reached over to pat his leg comfortingly.

"He was just dropping by to visit because he missed us and after coming home to what he did and after he saw how much I hated him afterward…I guess it just made him more determined to find a way for both of us to be human and die. And if he destroyed the stone then, we might never find a way."

"You mean he _still_ hasn't found a way?" Alfons asked.

Edward shook his head no. "The last few decades, he's been too busy running around in hospitals, saving people to try and make himself feel like less of a monster. Plus, he firmly believes that _they_ are still out there and he's afraid of us being left human and defenseless if he did succeed and we ran into them afterward."

Alfons nodded. That sounded perfectly reasonable. The last time Edward met those other vampires when he was human he almost died. Alfons cringed and shook his head.

They spent a few more minutes outside and when the sun was just a sliver of light in the horizon, Edward spoke.

"Alright, I think that's enough. Let's go back inside." Edward said, jumping down from the swing and gesturing to the house with his head. Alfons nodded and walked ahead, his curiosity rekindled.

* * *

Because of the time they spent under the light of the setting sun, the house seemed a lot dimmer then it was when he got home many minutes ago. They paused in the doorway to take their shoes off and Alfons carefully avoided looking at Edward until they made it to the living room so he could surprise himself.

He stopped beside the couch and took a small breath when he heard Edward stop behind him. He then turned and couldn't help the widening of his eyes at the sight.

One corner of Edward's mouth curled slightly into a smirk.

"Creepy huh?"

It took 2 seconds longer than normal for Alfons to register that Edward had spoken and he shook his head slowly from side to side.

"It sounded like some stupid thing straight out of a comic book when I try to put it into words so I didn't tell you." Edward said with a shrug. "Tell me honestly, how weird does it look to you?" he asked.

Alfons blinked and shook his head again from side to side, his blue eyes glued to Edward's gold ones, his _glowing_ gold ones. They weren't glowing in that tacky way like the eyes of superheroes in those cartoons back in the 90's and the more he looked at them, the less he found the word "glowing" fitting. Only Edward's irises were gleaming and their luster reminded Alfons of the dangerous eyes that stare at you from in between the trees in a dark forest. They were eyes that fitted a vampire and they were both intimidating and fascinating. If he saw Edward glaring at him from a corner of a deserted alley with those eyes, he'd probably be paralyzed with fear.

"It's not weird, it's…cool." Alfons said lamely, wanting to smack himself afterward for not coming up with a better word.

Edward raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Alfons nodded and leaned forward to stare directly into Edward's luminescent eyes.

"The sun does this to you?" he asked.

"Well, any source of bright light does. My irises absorb the light and recycle it when it's dark." Edward answered.

"Like glow-in-the-dark stickers?"

Edward's face scrunched up in distaste. "I'd say no but…yeah, I guess it pretty much works the same way."

"How long does it last?" Alfons asked.

"A few hours, it depends on how long my eyes are exposed to light. If I shine a flashlight into my eyes for a few seconds, the glowing would last for just a minute or two..." Edward trailed off.

Alfons made a small noise of fascination and didn't even realize he was still leaning forward, closer to Edward until he noticed Edward's eyes blinking only a mere inch away from his own. Alfons blinked back, suddenly aware of the measly distance between them. He gulped as their proximity caused a sudden desire to pull Edward closer and kiss him.

Like a switch was flicked, all the fascination he had been feeling after seeing Edward's eyes disappeared and was replaced with the immense attraction he felt for the blond in front of him.

For a second or two they just stared and Alfons was about to lean forward and close the gap between their lips but Edward beat him to it, putting one hand on the back of Alfons' head and pulling his face down the few inches that separated them in height. Alfons sighed and took a step closer, draping his arms loosely over Edward's shoulders. Edward reciprocated by lifting his other hand and wrapping it firmly around Alfons' waist.

They kissed for a long time, longer than each of the few times they've kissed before and for the first time since that time out in the snow on school grounds, Alfons found more drawbacks to making out with a supernaturally gifted immortal. He was still new to kissing and because of that, he didn't quite knew how to regulate his breathing so he wouldn't run out of air and when he did started running out, he couldn't pull away because one, Edward didn't need to breathe and could probably go on for hours and two, Edward's iron grip on the back of his head was near impossible to break.

Thankfully though, Edward noticed when he started gently pushing at his shoulders. The kiss broke and as soon as it did, Alfons inhaled several lungful of air.

"Sorry. You need oxygen, I forgot." Edward murmured.

Alfons laughed as he rested his forehead head on Edward's shoulder. "It's ok, so did I."

Edward sighed. "Why is it that I can always kill the mood without even trying? The last time I kissed you for more than 2 seconds, you nearly froze your lips off. This time, you almost suffocated." He grumbled.

Alfons laughed again and pulled back so he could kiss Edward again. He responded tentatively, very careful as he kissed back and Alfons touched his face lightly with his fingers as a silent command to relax. Alfons pulled away after a few seconds and stared down at Edward with a small smile on his lips.

"Well, I chose to go out with you, so I guess I just have to deal with it." He commented, pushing one corner of Edward's mouth up to get rid of the disgruntled pout he was doing. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy kissing Edward despite the drawbacks.

Edward lightly smacked his hand away but he straightened his lips from the pout nonetheless.

"Really?" he asked.

Alfons nodded.

Edward looked thoughtful for a second then he murmured. "I wonder if this would bother you." And before Alfons could ask what he was talking about, he leaned forward and ran the tip of his tongue lightly over the outline of Alfons' bottom lip. Alfons jumped and reflexively leaned back from the sudden cold against his skin but Edward just followed and to his shock, slid his tongue into his mouth, brushing it lightly against his own and stroking it over the roof of his mouth.

Alfons gasped. Edward's tongue felt like he had been eating snow cones outside for the past two hours and the feel of it _inside_ his mouth sent a jolt of electricity down his spine and straight to his fingertips. He had never French-kissed anyone before, frankly he thought it was disgusting but he didn't taste anything he would've deemed unpleasant and the feel of Edward's icy tongue was, dare he admit, strangely sensual.

Alfons' eyes were wide open throughout the whole ordeal and when Edward pulled away, he saw those luminescent gold eyes open slowly and that full bottom lip get pulled under a row of teeth.

"Would you put up with that too?" Edward asked.

Alfons blinked and tried to remember how to move his head. When he finally did, three seconds later he nodded. Edward's brows furrowed slightly.

"Really, it didn't freak you out at all?" Edward asked dubiously.

Maybe he should be freaked out that he didn't. "No." he answered.

Edward's dubious expression slowly relaxed and he muttered a barely audible "Good."

Then he pulled Alfons back toward him and made him mind french kissing even less

Alfons didn't have even the slightest idea how long they spent making out this time but when Edward pulled away for what felt like the 20th time so that Alfons could catch his breath, he saw that his eyes had lost their luster and were back to their normal ocher color. He also noticed that they had moved to the couch sometime earlier and he was lying on his back with a cold, heavy weight resting comfortably on top of him.

"Good job not killing the mood that time." Alfons commented.

Edward smirked and opened his mouth to say something but before he could, they heard the front door open and just as they heard voices conversing jovially, they got up and inched apart so that they were sitting on the opposite ends of the couch. Alfons' heart pounded in his chest as he ran a hand through his hair, hoping that he didn't look like he was just playing tonsil hockey with Edward. He inwardly cursed himself for forgetting that Riza told him they'd be coming over for dinner.

"Oh! Hi you two." Grandpa Grumman said with a wide grin as he walked into the living room "Nice to see you again around here Ed." He continued.

Edward returned the greeting but Alfons didn't pay any attention to him, because at that moment, Roy walked in through the front door with Katrina in his arms. His dark blue eyes widened slightly at the sight of Edward and when he turned his gaze to Alfons, he had this expression on his face that was a mixture of disapproval and awareness, as if he knew exactly why the golden eyed boy was doing there.

Alfons immediately looked away, praying that he interpreted Roy's expression wrong and hoping that if he hadn't, the expression on his face didn't betray him and confirm what Roy might possibly already know.

* * *

Once again, Edward managed to excuse himself from having dinner with them and Alfons hesitantly let him go, afraid of spending the rest of dinner with Roy and his weird stares.

Aftrer dinner, Roy pulled him to the side and Alfons having no excuse to tell him he didn't want to talk, just went along with it.

"I know." He said right off the bat and Alfons frowned at having his suspicions confirmed.

"I figured. How?" he whispered, not wanting anyone to hear their conversation.

"You think rumors in the school don't make it to the teachers? I didn't believe it at first but I saw you guys last night when I went to shovel out snow from the walkway."

Alfons eyes widened a bit, wondering how on earth he didn't notice Roy there when he made his way back into the house.

"Don't tell grandpa. Please." Alfons pleaded.

"I won't. That's your responsibility and that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. I want you to know that I respect your choice and I'm not saying that Mr. Elric doesn't have any redeeming qualities but still, you're a good kid and also for your grandpa's sake, me and Riza want you to be careful ok?" Roy asked.

"…I appreciate your concern." Alfons said uncertainly.

"Tell him soon though. Your grandfather is awfully observant, he'll figure it out for himself sooner or later and I think he'd rather hear it straight from your mouth than find out for himself."

Alfons didn't reply but he nodded.

Roy smiled hesitantly and patted him once on the shoulder, then he walked back out into the living room, leaving Alfons to think about his new problem.

* * *

TBC

And so the secret of Edward and the sun has been revealed. In case you didn't get it, think of Saya's eyes from Blood+ or Celine from underworld, try to think of a gold version of their eyes XD

Guuuuh, I'm tired.

Ugh, school is starting in a few days . so I'm sorry to say that after this chapter, updates would be few and far in between. I'll try to write every time I get some spare time but I doubt I'd even get that much spare time. My life seems to be going slowly into a downward spiral lately .

Enjoy the last of your summer vacations everyboy!


	11. Chapter 11

Oh Hai! Look, I managed to squeeze in another chapter before school starts! :)

Unfortunately, school starts TOMORROW and I will be unable to sleep tonight because I just KNOW tomorrow is going to SUUCK.

Anyway, I had fun writing this chapter (I've never written an entire page describing people making out before. T'was FUN :D) and I hope you will have fun reading it. ^^

* * *

A muffled sigh made it to his ears, amidst the occasional rustle of clothes and the whisper of lips and hands ghosting over flesh. And though he wasn't sure if the sigh had come from his own lips or not, he was surprised he even registered it through the layers of bliss his head was currently submerged in.

A slow, faint burn made itself known in his lungs and he slid one hand up from where it was currently resting on a cotton clad shoulder, to a smooth, pale neck and snuck his fingers under the base of a blond braid. He hooked his fingers under some of the golden strands and tugged them lightly. Edward, taking that as his cue to let him breathe, broke away from his mouth and kissed his way down to Alfons' jaw, where he left soft, lazy kisses as he waited for Alfons to refill his oxygen supply.

The day when Edward showed him how his eyes reacted to light was the day they discovered the enjoyment making out and since then, it had become a habit of theirs to spend minutes on end every time Edward was over with their mouths and hands glued to each other. Due to the differences between humans and immortals, it took them a few tries to get it to work out right and after some thinking and lots of considerably enjoyable experimenting, they've devised a system of sort to make sure that they can go on with as little interruptions as possible.

Alfons took a few, slow breaths, savoring the warmth of the air that wafted from the air vent right next to his head.

The first problem they managed to solve was that of Alfons getting numb lips or mild chills because of Edward's lack of body heat. They accidentally found a perfectly neat solution when they were rolling around on the floor and wound up right next to the air vent.

When his breathing had gone back to normal, Alfons placed a palm against Edward's cheek and led his face back to his. He made a little noise of contentment when Edward's cold lips, slightly warmed by the heat coming from the vent and Alfons' own lips made contact with his. They were still icy despite the few degrees of difference that the heat had caused but he had kissed them many times before that he was all but used to the chill by now.

Edward lightly touched the tip of his tongue against Alfons' bottom lip and hesitated for only a spilt second before slipping it between his lips and delving into his mouth. Alfons jumped slightly in surprise but shyly responded with his own tongue. This, he still hadn't gotten used to. Edward's tongue was probably the coldest part of his body and the drastic difference in temperature between his and Alfons' hasn't failed to make him jump in surprise every time they made contact.

Edward licked the roof of his mouth and he shuddered in delight. He never would have figured that having the roof of his mouth stroked by another person's tongue could send sparks of pleasure to course through each and every one of his nerves. It was kind of strange but hey, he wasn't complaining and seeing as how often he did it, he had a feeling that Edward didn't mind doing it either.

Alfons slid his hands to cradle Edward's face and sighed as their make out session continued. Goodness, for someone who was so romantically inept, Edward was a good kisser. Not that he had anybody else to compare him with but he absolutely _enjoyed _kissing him so he was going to go ahead and say he was good anyway.

All of a sudden there were three quick raps on the door and Edward flinched slightly when Alfons' teeth accidentally clamped down around his tongue. They both sat up and Alfons immediately whispered a string of apologies as Edward stuck his tongue out to see if there was a cut.

"'fons? Ed?"

Came Grandpa Grumman's voice from the other side of the door. Alfons cleared his throat and tried to speak as evenly as he could.

"Yeah?" he called out, his eyes still focused on Edward.

Edward took one last glance at his tongue and gave him a thumbs up. Then he pushed Alfons over to the spot on the floor where their textbooks were lying open and jumped onto Alfons' bed, pretending to be jotting down notes on his notebook.

The door creaked open and Grandpa Grumman poked his head inside.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Alfons cursed himself for not being more careful. Especially after Roy's warning a few weeks ago. He still wasn't sure if telling Grandpa Grumman would be the right thing to do, ok fine he knew it_ was_ but he wasn't sure that he had the guts to do it. And he really _should_ be more careful and not leave any hints before he could decide whether to tell him or not. It was just that, after only a few seconds of kissing Edward, everything else seemed to fly right out of his mind.

"Sorry to bother you kids, but we seemed to have run out of a few things in the kitchen and I'm going to go out and buy some. Alfons, do you mind starting dinner while I'm gone. I'll pick up where you leave off later I promise." Grandpa Grumman said with an apologetic smile.

Alfons stood up. "No, no I don't mind at all. What do you want me to do?" he asked.

* * *

A few minutes later, Alfons found himself staring down at a boling pot of beef stew, feeling like he was going to pass out at any given moment.

Shortly after Grandpa Grumman left, he started feeling tired and weak, like all the energy had been sucked out of him but he ignored it. Fatigue was one of the lesser symptoms and it usually passed faster.

"You know, you look like a house wife, standing there stirring something in a huge pot over a stove."

Edward commented from behind him and Alfons turned, forcing a smile through the sudden pain in his side as he did it. He internally cringed. What was that? He hadn't felt pain quite like that before.

Edward surprised him by immediately seeing through his smile. His golden eyebrows furrowed and a frown marred his face as he stood up and walked over to Alfons.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Alfons shook his head. "I…I don't feel so good." He answered.

Edward's frown deepened and he reached a hand out and laid it on Alfons' chest.

"You're breathing faster than normal…" he observed. He grabbed Alfons by the arm and gently led him over to the table so that he could sit on a chair. Alfons sat carefully, paying attention to his breaths as he did so. His breathing _was_ irregular but it was soundless and soft that he wouldn't have realized it if Edward hadn't pointed it out. Edward gently pushed at his shoulder, encouraging him to lean back and he did, but flinched and leant forward instead when a sudden jolt of pain shot through his side.

Alfons breath hitched and he put a hand over his side. "Ow…" he murmured.

"What, what's wrong?" Edward asked, putting a hand over the one Alfons had over his side.

"My side is hurting. I don't know why though…"

"When was the last time you went to a doctor? Should I take you to Hohenheim right now?" Edward asked, tense with worry.

The last time was way back near the end of September, when they gave him an estimate of just how long he had left. He hadn't gone to a doctor ever since, knowing all that they could and would tell him was just bad news. He voiced this out to Edward who asked him once again if he wanted to go to Hohenheim.

Alfons shook his head. "I'll be fine, just…please get me my inhaler, it's upstairs in the medicine cabinet."

Edward nodded once and practically sprinted out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

After he was gone, Alfons leant forward even more so that his chest was resting on his thighs and his forehead rested on his knee. He had experienced fatigue and shortness of breath numerous times since he got here but never at the same time and never this bad….or maybe it just felt bad because they were happening at the same time.

Edward rushed down the stairs then and all but shoved the inhaler onto Alfons' hands. Alfons took it with a small smile and immediately put it to his mouth.

Edward plopped down on the floor, at his feet and let out a heavy sigh.

"That's only the second time I had to face the more alarming things about your…condition. Sheesh, how does your Grandpa live with this?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. His expression reminded Alfons of somebody who had barely dodged a panic attack.

After he was done using the inhaler, Alfons smiled and brushed Edward's bangs away from his face.

"This happens a lot around here, if you're going to stick around til the end you better get used to it because it's going to get a lot more scary than this." Alfons murmured, wondering somewhere in the back of his mind why his words sounded strangely familiar.

Edward looked up at him silently then he turned his ocher eyes to the floor, his expression somber.

"Right…When did they tell you that you only had five to seven months left?" Edward asked silently.

"September 26." Alfons replied, just as quiet. The date was forever burned into his memory.

Edward was silent for a few seconds as he counted in his head.

"If you did have seven then you're halfway down the line and if you only had five then…" he trailed off.

"I only have two more months…" Alfons continued for him.

Edward didn't speak and kept his eyes focused on the floor, then he leant forward and rested his head on Alfons' lap. Alfons' eyes widened as the action helped him figure out why his words earlier sounded so familiar to him.

_He looked up from her lap, where he had buried his face in an attempt to smother the urge to cry._

'_Mama, you scared me. Don't just fall over like that!'_

_She laughed._ '_I'm sorry sweetie but you're going to have to get used to it because Mama's going to be scaring you a lot more than this…'_

It happened right here in this very kitchen over ten years ago, when he was the one who was afraid of losing somebody else to cancer. His mom almost fainted and he had been horrified, thinking she was already dying and she told him those words. Then she patted him on the head and kissed his hair, burying her face in it to hide her tears.

Alfons sighed raggedly and he didn't know if it was because his breathing still hadn't gone back to normal or if it was something else entirely. Then he reached out and placed his hand on Edward's hair before leaning forward and kissing the top of his head, feeling a faint twinge of something in his chest when the familiar scene had been completed.

"Alfons?" Edward asked.

"Hm?" Alfons asked back, face still pressed against Edward's soft, blond locks.

"Promise me something?"

"What?"

"Swear that you'll try your hardest to make it til 7 not 5." Edward answered, his voice slightly muffled by Alfons' jeans.

Alfons sighed into his hair and nodded. It was a long shot and he would most probably fail but…

"Ok…" he murmured.

Alfons leaned back into the chair after that but Edward stayed with his head resting on Alfons' lap. They spent a few more minutes in that position, unmoving. Alfons ran his fingertips lightly over Edward's braid again and again, enjoying the sensation of the woven silky, blond tresses against his skin. Eventually, his breathing returned to normal but the fatigue stayed and though he insisted that he felt well enough to do it himself, Edward forced him to remain seated as he attended to the boiling pot of beef stew on the stove. Edward stirred it a few times and turned off the stove before sitting down next to Alfons and watching him silently, probably waiting for him to faint or throw up or something.

Thankfully he did neither and when Grandpa Grumman came back, he was almost completely fine.

Halfway through dinner, the fatigue flared up again and it got so bad that Alfonss could barely keep himself upright even when he was sitting down.

"Alfons are you ok?"

Grandpa Grumman asked and across from him, Edward who decided to stay with them for dinner to keep an eye on Alfons, looked up from his food with an anxious glance.

Alfons slowly shook his head no. He was too tired to even try and play it down.

"Do you want to go upstairs and sleep?" Edward asked.

"Yeah…I think that'd be a good idea." Alfons replied as he carefully pushed his chair back so he could stand. He stumbled over one of the chair legs but managed to hold on to the table edge and catch himself before he could fall flat on his face.

Both Grandpa Grumman and Edward stood up from their seats in alarm and Alfons smiled at them comfortingly.

"I'm ok."

"No you're not. I'll go with you to your room in case you trip on the stairs." Edward said.

"That's ok Edward, you don't need to," Alfons began but got cut off when Edward grabbed his wrist and started pulling him towards the stairs.

"Do you need me to get your medicine?" Grandpa Grumman asked as they all slowly went up the stairs.

"No, I don't have anything that gets rid of fatigue. I'll just sleep it off then I'll be fine." Alfons answered.

Edward hovered by the door while Grandpa Grumman tucked him in despite his protests. Getting treated like a 5 year old by his grandfather in front of Edward was humiliating, but the gesture was also incredibly sweet and despite the embarrassment, he did appreciate it.

"Are you sure there isn't anything I can get you?" Grandpa Grumman asked as he felt Alfons' forehead with one hand.

"Something that'd help me sleep faster would be nice." Alfons replied.

"Alright. How does some Camomile tea sound?" Grandpa Grumman asked.

"Sounds good." Alfons replied with a smile.

Grandpa Grumman smiled back and patted his hand before standing up to go get him some tea. When he was gone, Edward walked over and sat down on the edge of his bed.

"Does your side still hurt?" he asked.

Alfons shook his head. "It was probably just a knot or something."

He reached for Edward's hand and he smiled when Edward moved to meet him halfway. Their fingers laced together and for a few seconds they just stared at each other. Then Alfons blinked when he took notice of Edward's clothes. A black cotton sweater over a gray button down and dark denims, it was the denim jeans that caught his attention. There was a red dragon design embroidered on one leg and it made Alfons wonder yet again, what happened to all the red clothes Edward used to wear back when they first met.

"Edward, how come you don't wear any red clothes anymore?" Alfons asked. Now that he thought about it, Edward hadn't worn red a single time ever since that morning when he climbed up to his window and took him to that pond. But before then, he was pretty sure that Edward wore something red every day.

Edward blinked and abruptly turned his face away. "No reason." He muttered.

Alfons tilted his head to the side, knowing that this was another moment when Edward would've been blushing if he could. He wondered why.

"There's definitely a reason. Your car is red, your room's walls are red, and ever since I met you up until you told me you were a vampire you wore red." Alfons protested.

"It's not important." Edward said, getting flustered now.

"It is to me, your reaction is just making me more curious."

Edward's lower lip jutted out the slightest bit. "Just go to sleep Alfons." He grumbled.

"I will if you tell me." Alfons replied.

"No." Edward deadpanned.

Alfons sighed. "Please?" he asked in the most persuasive tone he could manage.

"It's stupid." Edward protested.

"I'll judge that for myself. Please Edward?"

Edward groaned. "For someone who feels sick, you're amazingly persistent. You're not just faking feeling tired are you?"

Alfons laughed. "No, I'm not. Pestering you is the only thing keeping me awake right now."

Edward was quiet for a minute, then he sighed.

"You already know that my senses are sharp. Bright colors hurt my eyes and I used to wear red all the time because I liked it and because... when it was on me, the...umm, haze that I can see from it kind of blurs the rest of the world, like heat waves or bright light. It helped me a lot in ignoring people…I stopped wearing it because I didn't…want to blur you out." Edward explained, looking like he wanted to bang his head against the wall in mortification after he said it.

Alfons blinked as he absorbed Edward's words.

Edward wore red so that he wouldn't see anyone? And he stopped wearing it ever since he decided that he wanted Alfons?

"I told you it was stupid…" Edward muttered.

Alfons shook his head out of his temporary stupor and laughed softly.

"It's not stupid, it's…very sweet."

Edward scoffed and turned his face away again.

Alfons chuckled and tugged Edward closer with the hand entwined with his.

"It is. Thank you." He murmured, tugging at Edward's arm so that he'd bend down. Edward grumbled something unintelligible but obliged and kissed back when Alfons' mouth found his. They kissed for a total of two seconds before Alfons had to break away and turn his head to the side, coughing like he had swallowed an ice cube.

Edward patted his chest lightly, looking like he had no idea what else he could do and had to settle for patting him on the chest.

"Alfons, see a doctor sometime soon okay? You might end up not even making it to five months." Edward said, his eyebrows scrunched up in worry.

Alfons opened his mouth to say something but at that moment, Grandpa Grumman came into his room holding a steaming mug of Camomile tea.

* * *

Edward said his goodbyes to him and Grandpa Grumman shortly after that and lightly cuffed Alfons on the head when he apologized for feeling ill and not being able to walk him to the door.

"The hell are you apologizing for, idiot? Just go get some rest and be sure to show up at school tomorrow." He had said.

Alfons lay flat on his back, staring at the ceiling blankly.

Maybe he _should_ go to a doctor. He only had so much time left, today was probably the beginning already. The symptoms are all going to get much, much worse from this point. If he could find some way to not feel as horribly weak and sick then that'd be good right?

Alfons sighed heavily.

_See a doctor sometime soon okay? You might end up not even making it to five months_

He certainly hoped that wouldn't happen. He didn't want to go yet and he hoped that just this once, whoever is up there watching him would cut him some slack and grant him this one wish. He had never really asked for anything before. It was only fair that he got the one thing he even bothered to wish for right?

Alfons yawned and rolled over to his side.

It was no good, he just felt drained of energy but not sleepy. If that made sense. He tried sleeping, but he just couldn't seem to fall asleep for some reason.

_Buzz _

_Buzz_

_Buzz_

Alfons blinked. That was his phone just now right? He sat up slowly, ignoring the protest of his uncooperative muscles and looked around his room.

"Where did I put that thing?" he mumbled to himself.

It was partially hidden behind his laptop and a few books on his desk and Alfons plopped down on the soft carpet in his room immediately after answering it, too tired to keep standing.

"Hello?" he asked, leaning back against the nearest wall.

'_How are you feeling?'_

Alfons' was about to yawn when the voice on the other line spoke but the surprise wasn't enough to halt the yawn so he ended up saying his answer through it.

"Ed-ward?" he asked.

'_Oh, did I wake you? Sorry.'_

"No, you didn't. And I feel ok…still a bit tired."

'_You're sure? You sound like you're going to drop the phone and lose consciousness before I could even finish my sentence.'_

Alfons smiled. "I'm still awake."

'_Ok, how about now?'_

Alfons chuckled. "Nope, still awake. What's with this sudden call in the middle of the night? Shouldn't _you _be sleeping?"

'_Can't sleep. And I'm not going to spend my time talking with the old bastard, I'd rather stick needles into my ears.'_

"So you decide to bother your sick boyfriend then?" Alfons asked.

'_Ew, don't use that word.'_

"I don't really want to, it's so tacky but what other word is there?"

'…_true…but still though, it's just sounds so…stupid.'_

Alfons chuckled softly. "Ok, so you decide to bother _me_ then?"

'_What I can eat face with you 5 days a week but I can't call you when I'm bored?'_

Alfons sighed. "Alright fine, I'll do my best to entertain you." He yawned again.

Edward seemed to hesitate, then he said. '_You really do sound like you desperately need some rest. Maybe I should just let you sleep now.'_

"No, no it's ok. I _do_ need sleep but I can't get it no matter what I do, so I don't mind talking."

'_You're sure about that?'_

"Mmhmm." Alfons answered, pulling himself up to his feet and plopping down unceremoniously on his bed.

'_Ok…what do you want to talk about?'_

"I don't know…anything."

As the minutes went on, Alfons realized once again that Edward never was and most probably never will be good at casual conversations. They wound up discussing things like the flaws in the educational system, the country's national debt, multiculturalism and other political issues and then the conversation morphed into arithmetic, calculus and Physics.

Their conversations were a far, far cry from the whispered nonsense that normal couples usually discuss over the phone in the middle of the night, but then again, they were a far cry from normal too. And besides, even if he was rambling on and on about how to balance a chemical equation, Alfons found himself taking comfort at the sound of Edward's voice.

Without him noticing, his eyelids suddenly grew heavy and the last fluttering thought he had was that no matter how unconventional, Edward did a pretty good job as his…lover.

'_Right, he doesn't want me to use the word boyfr…'_

And he didn't even get to finish the thought because even with Edward's voice explaining something about displacement in his ear, he fell asleep.

'_And that's how…Hey, are you still awake?' _came the voice from the phone. The only thing that answered it is a very soft snore.

A short, soft chuckle came from the other end of the line.

'_Good night Alfons.'_

* * *

Edward hung up with a fond smile and nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard his door creak open.

"How is he?" Hohenheim asked, poking his head inside his room.

"Don't just come barging in here you bastard!" Edward yelled as his surprise slowly wore off.

"Sorry, sorry. So? Is he alright?" Hohenheim asked again.

Edward snorted. "Yeah, he's fine."

"You should convince him to go see a doctor next time hm? There's a good chance he might get worse faster if he didn't see a doctor regularly. I'll be honoured to look at him myself if he wants." Hohenheim offered.

"I'll be sure to tell him that." Edward muttered flatly.

"Did you tell him that you might be leaving for a bit sometime in the near future?"

Edward's golden eyes gleamed as he glared at his father.

"I told you, I am not leaving. Besides, it could take them months, even years to find us. If it scares you so much, _you_ can leave. I don't care."

"I'm just saying, it would be much safer for him and for everyone here if we were far far away from Stratford when they find us." Hohenheim said as he entered the room. "Just think Edward. When they find us here and they found out what he means to you, imagine the danger that would put him in." he continued.

"If they found out we're here and we're already gone when they get here, if they found out about Alfons then, he'd be in even more danger. Do you think I'll leave him here so that could happen?" Edward asked. "_Nothing_ is going to happen to him." he said firmly, his golden eyes practically burning with determination. "I'll make sure of that." He added, then he looked away.

"Besides, I made him swear."

Hohenheim blinked. "Swear what?"

Edward kept his face averted and he didn't speak. Hohenheim sighed, realizing he wasn't getting an answer.

"Alright, if that's what you really want. I don't really mind, I'll help you protect him…You really care about him don't you?"

Edward snorted but said nothing.

Hohenheim smiled. "Take good care of him. Good night, Edward."

Edward's silence continued and Hohenheim slipped quietly outside.

When he was gone, Edward stepped down from where he was sitting on top of his so called coffin, lifted the lid and jumped inside, landing with a soft thud as his head hit the fluffy white pillow inside. He stared up at the sliver of light on the ceiling that peeked out from between the small crack in his drapes.

He made Alfons swear that he'd try to live until seven months. What kind of asshole would he be if he wouldn't even be there to see him succeed? He made him promise for purely selfish reasons, because _he_ would rather lose him later than sooner.

He sighed. For over a hundred years, he never cared about anyone enough to want to keep them this bad. And now that he did, he only had a few months until he was gone? If he believed in a god, he'd probably curse him right now. He rolled to his side and picked at a stray thread on the padding-inside-a-box that made up his bed.

Of all the people in the world, he had to fall for Alfons Heiderich. But he had given up a long time ago trying to figure out why exactly he chose him. Alfons was…just Alfons. He was just himself and that seemed to be enough for him because here he was, possibly risking the safety of an entire town just so he could be there to make sure he was safe.

At the beginning, it was only because he had the same wide eyes and the same benevolent aura about him just like Al. He knew that was what had him sparing Alfons a second glance in the first place. And he just got drawn in even more after he found out that they had practically the same name and similar personalities. But afterward, when he spent more time with him, he started liking him for _him_ not for his similarities with Al. Whenever they talked, he realized he actually enjoyed talking to him and whenever he managed to make him laugh or smile, he realized, he liked causing those reactions.

He did care about him just like Hohenheim said and he would do anything just to keep him alive for a few more years... Except, make sure that he lived for many, many, _many_ years. He frowned. He didn't want him to die but the only way to make sure he didn't was a way that ranked higher on his blacklist than drowning newborn babies in front of their mother's eyes.

"If there really is a god out there that was watching over me and controlling my fate, then he _sucks_." Edward grumbled.

Then that leaves him with only one option. Try to get Alfons to take care of himself better so that he would live for as long as he could push it with the Cancer. No, not try, _make sure_ that he would make a conscious effort to push the boundaries. That he wouldn't die yet.

"Yeah. Don't die yet Alfons. Don't die."

* * *

The fatigue lasted for half of the next day, more proof that he was slowly getting worse.

He didn't go to school to recover and it worked. By evening, he was back to his normal semi-healthy self. For the next few days after that, being in school became a bit…difficult. He coughed up blood more often now and though not far off from how he used to (It used to be only two to three times every few days) , excusing himself to go to the bathroom while trying to suppress the coughing so that everyone else in the class wouldn't be alarmed proved to be quite challenging. Especially since sometimes he had to do it three times in a single period.

"When are you planning to go to a doctor?"

Edward asked him as he coughed into his forearm for the third time in less than a minute.

After the last cough made it out of his throat, Alfons put a hand over his chest.

"It's not _that_ bad yet. It's just a little worse than usual. I'll go to one near the end of the month." He said as he picked up his pen and the Physics work sheet he had for homework.

"Hmm…okay, if you say so." Edward mumbled off handedly, besides, when he thinks he should go, he could just drag Alfons to a doctor himself.

Alfons tapped his pen against his cheek absently as he read the next question he had to answer.

"This was you?" Edward asked, trying to suppress a laugh as he suddenly plopped down next to him. Alfons looked over to find him holding a tiny silver picture frame in his hand. The picture within it was of him when he was 5. It was taken in the front yard, he was wearing a white button down shirt and a pair of loose khaki shorts held up by simple black suspenders. He didn't need glasses back then but his teeth hadn't been perfect and his braces glinted slightly from the camera flash. He was grinning as widely as his tiny mouth would allow while holding on to the tire swing with both hands.

He looked like a downright dorky kid, a happy one but dorky nevertheless.

Alfons snatched the picture away, flushing slightly when Edward laughed freely.

"You looked like a hybrid mix of geek and dork." Edward said, chortling freely.

Alfons pouted. "I was _5_. I didn't know the difference between grinning like a doofus and smiling."

Edward's laughter slowly died down and he held a hand up as if in apology. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry."

Alfons made a face at him and turned his attention back to his Physics homework.

It was a normal school night and by now, the two of them should've been tangled up in each other's limbs near the air vent. But after the close call they had a few days ago, when they had been lucky that Grandpa Grumman decided to knock instead of just barging in while they were on the floor sucking face, Alfons was in the mood to play it safe.

No sooner had that thought occurred, the door creaked open and Grandpa Grumman poked his head into the room.

"Dinner's ready boys, why don't you take a break from the studying and get some food into those stomachs?" he asked with a smile.

Alfons and Edward both stood up with simultaneous comments of agreement and the three of them headed down the stairs. As soon as they made it to the kitchen, Alfons raised his eyebrows as his eyes zeroed in on the roast chicken in the middle of the table. Usually Grandpa Grumman only cooked chicken when there was an occasion of some sort. But the chicken smelled absolutely wonderful amidst the smell of mushroom soup and melted cheese and Alfons found himself shrugging mentally as they all took seats around the table.

If Grandpa Grumman felt like cooking delicious food for no reason then he wasn't complaining.

* * *

Dinner went by great, Grandpa Grumman supplied most of the conversation, asking him and Edward trivial questions about school and Hohenheim and what university they wanted to go to, you know typical questions an adult would ask a teenager.

"How long have you been in Stratford? I'm sorry, I'm really getting old and I forgot." Grandpa Grumman said with a small chuckle.

Edward smiled politely. "It's 2 years ago now."

"Do you and Van plan on staying even after you finish highschool?"

"He is for sure but me, I don't know. I'm still not sure where I want to go for university so I guess we'll have to wait and see." Edward replied.

Alfons turned his attention to his food and popped some cheese covered ravioli into his mouth. They seem to be getting along just fine. He'll just jump in when they decide to include him in the conversation.

"Right. How long do you guys have until graduation?"

"Umm, after December, about 6 months."

Alfons reached for his glass of water and took a sip as Edward and Grandpa Grumman continued with their little Q & A.

"And how long have you been dating my grandson?"

Alfons' eyes widened and he discovered just how painful it was to choke on water.

He clenched his eyes shut and barely managed to put his glass down as he bent forward and began coughing to get rid of the water blocking his throat.

"Are you ok Alfons?" Grandpa Grumman asked casually, as if everything was absolutely fine and dandy in the world.

"-Who told you that?" Alfons sputtered, mentally cursing Roy in his head as he did so.

"You did. Just now. I may not have seen you for over ten years but you're still my grandson, I know when you're happy and when you're not. And really, do you think I don't notice the blush on your cheeks or how mussed your clothes and hair are when I check up on you two. I may be old but I'm not blind."

Alfons felt his face heat up. "You noticed that?"

"Oh yeah. I'm hurt Alfons, you weren't planning to tell me?" Grandpa Grumman asked, feigning a severely hurt expression.

Alfons exchanged a glance with Edward, who looked just as surprised as he was. Edward raised an eyebrow.

"Y-you're not… mad?"

Alfons asked slowly. This was nothing like how he imagined this confrontation to be. At all.

"What? No! Surprised yes but mad no. Why would I be mad? Don't you know that Stratford is known for it's relatively big gay, lesbian, bi-sexual population? Someone wrote an article about it last year. Everyone here is used to seeing same-sex couples, myself included."

For about a minute or two, Alfons just stared.

'_Are you **kidding** me?' _he thought to himself.

He looked at Edward again, who shrugged and raised his eyebrows as if saying '_I didn't know that either.'_

Grandpa Grumman sighed. "Really, even if we are smack in the middle of a fairly conservative farm country, Stratford is very open and friendly about this sort of thing. There are few people here who still mind."

"…ok…" Alfons muttered slowly, still stunned. All that worry…absolutely for _nothing_?

"Now, how long have you two been together?" Grandpa Grumman asked, smiling at both of them.

"…err…A few months." Edward answered hesitantly.

"Really? Wow,"

Grandpa Grumman began saying something else but Alfons could barely hear him, still stuck on the fact that his one and only problem is solved. Just like that.

* * *

That night after Edward left, Alfons confronted his grand father.

"How long have you known?" he asked.

"A few weeks. I'm actually surprised at myself that I didn't figure it out earlier. Really, just the way you _look_ at him gives you away." Grandpa Grumman replied.

"You don't mind? Really?" Alfons asked again.

"A few years ago maybe I would've but I've lived with gays and lesbians for a long time and they're wonderful, wonderful people and I'd want to hit myself if I said I find something wrong with them. I am a little surprised but hey, whatever makes you happy kid. No wonder you always try to dodge it whenever I ask you about girls"

Then he reached up and patted Alfons on the head just like he always used to when Alfona was younger and Alfons finally accepted the fact that he had been insanely lucky just this once and his life just got that much easier.

He went to bed with a smile on his face and thanked whatever higher power was watching him from up there. Perhaps it wasn't enough to say that things are looking up but hey, it was a start. If what he thought was sure to end in disaster could end up like this then maybe, just maybe, his condition wouldn't get worse but better instead. Even a tiny bit.

* * *

As Alfons fell into a deep sleep, miles away in the city of Toronto, a stranger lay unconscious in a deserted alley as a person in a long hooded coat got into the red Mitsubishi eclipse he owned.

"Tch. Sucker." The person scoffed as he started the car and drove away.

What an idiot. All he did was lie on the street and pretend to be unconscious and this moron pulls up and gets out of his car, to check if he was ok.

"Oh well, bad things always happens to good people." He said in a sing-song voice as he blazed through a red light.

Luck was on his side. While he was at the airport, trying to figure out which state he should check next, he ran into that lady from Japan. His first instinct was to avoid her but then he figured that wherever she was going, the Elrics might possibly be, so he took the form of a frail looking, wrinkly old woman and pretended to ask her for help.

No matter how intimidating she looked, the woman was a moron just like everybody else. After a sob story about visiting a dying son and a casual conversation, not only did he manage to know where she was going, he managed to find out that she had just come from the town of Stratford to "Visit a friend and his son"

"This is almost too easy." He murmured with a smirk.

In about two hours, he'd make it to where they were and it was only a day or two before he found them at last. Bad, bad choice choosing a small town to live in. It'd be so easy to find them, it'd be practically boring.

* * *

**TBC!**

Aha, the creeper is shown once again. And this time he's closing in on our boys, oh noes!

That thing about Stratford being GLBT friendly and having a large openly gay community is absolutely true by the way. I stumbled upon the article about it on google when I was doing my research about stratford and I was like 0_0...OMG, this is F%^&$% perfect!. XD so yeah...

Ok, this really will be the last chapter to go out in a while XDDD

Mouuuu, I dun wanna go back to school DX

Dammit life, why do you have to suck? T^T *cuddles armor Al plushie*(No srsly, I'm cuddling Al right now)

Reviews are LOOOOVE.


	12. Chapter 12

Guten Tag alle! How are you? ^^

Whew, school is...actually not that bad..._yet_ ...T_T Philosophy is f$%#ing with my brain but at the same time, feeding it with valuable input XD... if that makes sense.

Ugh, I am getting to be really scatterbrained lately, oh well...senior year in highschool does that to you .

Funny thing, I 'm taking history this semester, and this is actually true I swear XD. So, I made Ed and 'fons have history together right? and they sit next to each other. My History teacher decided to put us into a seating plan that was alphabetically based and I wound up sitting next to the guy I'm crushing on (yes, I still "crush" on guys because I am really naive and schoolgirl for an 18 year old XD But in my defense, I've only been 18 for a few weeks ) AND what's even more weird is that the first assignment he gave us was almost exactly the same as the History project I gave Ed and Alfons XDDDD...

A reply to **Incoming-duck-fiend**: OMG, my Al plushie has a little yellow kitty sewn on to his hand O_O! I wonder if the one you saw was the same one.

N-EWAY, enough about me, Heeeeeere's chapter 12.

To all you highschoolers who are all suffering as I am, this is for you!

...not that I don't have to school to thank for some of the things in this chap

Alright, I'mma shut up now. ENJOY everybody ^^

* * *

Alfons stared out the window of his Physics class with a serene look on his face while the rest of the class chattered amongst themselves about plans excitedly. The snow was still falling, Christmas break was in two days, Eckhart wasn't there and everyone in the class could not be happier.

Everyone was pretty much just goffing off, scattered everywhere in the room and ignoring the workload that Ms. Eckhart left for them in her absence. A few students had even moved to the front to talk with the substitute teacher. He was relatively young and he was light years better than Eckhart. Alfons vaguely remembered his name to be Mr. Hughes.

He sighed softly to himself, lifting a hand to rub light circles into his side. The pain he experienced that time in the kitchen had returned several times, in varying levels and it started again 15 minutes after class began. He knew he needed to see a doctor soon about it and he intended to. He wasn't looking forward to it but it didn't dampen his mood that much. Grandpa Grumman was completely and utterly fine with his and Edward's relationship and Uncle Alex sent him an email a week ago confirming that he'd be flying over for Christmas break. Despite his deteriorating health, he was happy.

"Hey Alfons,"

Alfons looked away from the window and into the face of a smiling, grey-eyed blond.

"Do you have any plans on for Christmas break?" Russell asked, smiling at Alfons charmingly.

"Just staying home for a family dinner." He answered with a small smile of his own.

"Oh, nice. I'm having a party at my house sometime between Christmas and New Year's eve, would you like to come?"

"I can't, sorry."

Russell pouted. "Just tell me that it's not because Elric doesn't permit you to and I'll leave you alone."

Alfons laughed. "No, it's not. I can't go because relatives are gonna be visiting."

That was a lie. He was actually worried that after his doctor's appointment sometime in the near future, he might get confined in a hospital until well after New Year's.

"Oh…well that's too bad. I was going to say that you could bring him along if you wanted…even if one of us might end up going to the ER because of a broken nose." Russell commented and Alfons chuckled softly.

He told Russell some time ago about him and Edward, he figured since it was true now anyway, he might as well tell Russell that he and Edward were together. Russell took it better than he expected, he wasn't happy with it but he didn't seem to be moping about it either and eventually, he seemed to accept it.

Internally Alfons smiled bitterly at the irony. How much better his life was getting was apparently inversely proportional to how much it seemed to be getting shorter.

* * *

A little over an hour later, the pain in his side was mostly gone but it was still there and it seemed to intensify every time he made any sudden moves.

"Your holding your side again."

Edward commented, not taking his eyes off of the book he was reading. Shortly after the little episode in the kitchen, when Grandpa Grumman blatantly asked Edward how long he had been seeing Alfons, Alfons had stopped going home from school with Riza and Roy. Now, since they weren't hiding it anymore, they spent their afternoons in each other's houses.

Every day after fourth period, they went directly to Edward's car and depending on who says where they want to go first(not that it really matters), they go to either Edward's or Alfons' house. Right now they were in Edward's room and Edward was sitting cross legged on top of his coffin, reading one of the hundreds of books that lined the shelves in his room and Alfons, who found the notion of sitting on a coffin creepy, sat on the floor leaning against it.

"Yeah. It's not that bad though, it'll probably go away after I lie down." Alfons replied.

Edward glanced down at him with a disapproving look and he raised his hands in defense. "I'm not playing it down, honest. And I'm planning to go to the doctor before Christmas break."

One side of Edward's mouth turned down. "I'm holding you to that." He said in a way that left no doubt in Alfons' mind that he was being completely and utterly serious.

Alfons nodded at him with a small reassuring smile. He promised he was going to try his hardest to live until seven months and he will.

There was a heartbeat of silence then Edward asked "Did you tell your grandpa about spending Christmas over at our house?"

"Oh, I was going to ask you about that actually. See, my godfather is coming to Stratford for the holidays and I think us plus Riza's family are going to have a big Christmas dinner. I was thinking, since there's going to be many people anyway, why don't you and Hohenheim just come over to our house?"

"Hmm, the old dork would probably like that…You can tell him yourself… later." Edward said. Then he reached a hand down to Alfons, who took it curiously.

Even though he knew he really shouldn't be surprised, he was still startled when Edward grabbed his arm with his other hand, easily yanked him up and made him sit in front of him like he was a toddler. It was just that he acted so normally around him that it was so easy to forget that Edward wasn't human.

"Ow." Alfons murmured with a light wince when the motion sent a tiny twinge of pain through his side.

He reached up to put his hand over it but Edward beat him to it, touching his side and rubbing it with gentleness that judging from the strength Edward just hinted he was capable of, he never would've dreamed he possessed.

"Sorry." He said sincerely, still caressing his side.

Alfons smiled softly and put a hand over Edward's. "It's ok."

There was a short moment of silence where they just stared at each other, then Edward moved forward and pressed his lips against his.

Alfons sighed as they fell into routine, his arms moved up to wrap themselves around Edward as his lips responded with the familiarity of kissing. He felt Edward shift and just a second later, he willingly fell back as he felt hands gently but firmly push him down onto the soft padded lid of Edward's coffin.

The coffin wasn't traditionally proportioned, it was larger and he assumed that was because Edward would probably not have been comfortable sleeping, caged in snugly by 4 corners of padded wood. Anyway, he didn't really care and as he felt his back make contact with the soft padding, he was just thankful that it was that way, it was wide enough to fit both of them if they lay side by side and if it wasn't then one wrong move could dump them both to the floor.

Cold fingers brushed against the sliver of bare skin at his waist, where his shirt had ridden up slightly and he slid his hands up to entangle his fingers in long corn silk blond strands, sighing contentedly as Edward's lips slid over his own repeatedly. He was so glad he didn't have to make excuses for Grandpa Grumman about spending time with Edward anymore. If he could, he'd spend the rest of his life doing this every afternoon…He tried to ignore it when he realized that, he _could_ do that.

"You, know…I never…would've thought…you…were…the type…to enjoy…doing this." Alfons murmured between kisses. Edward snorted and kept kissing him for a few more seconds before pulling away just enough so that their lips only barely touched.

"According to Dr. Sternberg's triangular theory of love, without expression, even the most powerful of loves can die." He murmured against Alfons' lips.

"Who?" Alfons asked.

"Nevermind." Edward murmured, leaning down to kiss him again.

Alfons kissed back but his mind was in a different place entirely…well maybe not _that_ different.

Edward said that without showing it, even the most powerful of _loves_ can die. They weren't poetic word's straight from his soul but a finding that some Psychologist came up with. However in Edward's language, it was probably the closest he was ever going to get to the infamous three words and the thought sent strong waves of elation and affection to course through him.

Most probably as a result of said elation, almost out of their own accord, his hands slid down to cradle each side of Edward's face and he swept his tongue over Edward's lips. Edward gasped softly in surprise and Alfons, made bold by the jubilation he was still feeling, used the opportunity to slip his tongue into Edward's mouth. He just barely managed to suppress a shiver when Edward sighed and saturated his tongue and lips with wintry breath. A small part of him shied away from the cold because it meant that he was kissing what could really be considered an un-_dead_ but…

Edward's hands slid under his shirt and glided over his warm skin and when his fingers brushed his chest, Alfons' mind pretty much short-circuited and even abstract thought didn't make sense to him anymore.

Yes, whenever he had inklings of alarming thoughts involving necrophilia, something like this would happen and he would forget all about it within the span of a few seconds.

Their lips and tongues continued to move as Edward's hands roamed expertly under his shirt…or at least he thought he did, with the experience he had regarding this sort of thing, he wasn't really in a place to tell if Edward knew what he was doing or not. However, the way he moved, it just really seemed to Alfons that he had done it many times before.

Just then, Edward deliberately dragged the tip of his tongue over the roof of his mouth and Alfons stopped thinking about anything other than the feel, taste and smell of the golden haired being kissing the sense out of him.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to come over to our house instead?"

Edward asked many minutes later when they lay on the floor, entangled together next to the air vent in his room. They had forgotten that if they don't do it next to a source of heat, making out could make Alfons catch a small bout of chills and when Alfons started shuddering in intervals, Edward noticed and moved him next to the vent right away.

Alfons looked up at him as best as he could from where his head was pillowed on his shoulder. "What's wrong with the two of you spending Christmas at ours? I know it's small and all but, it'll be fun." Alfons replied, absently playing with the bit of hair at the end of Edward's braid. Edward had refused to even sit next to him after he started shuddering but with persistent pleading and refusing to let go of the bottom of his shirt, he got him to lie down next to him and serve as his cuddly pillow.

"I don't mind it if it was only you, your grandpa and your godfather, and maybe coach Hawkeye too, but when her husband is included in the picture…no offence but I'd rather sit through a Twilight movie marathon." Edward answered, his nose scrunched up in distaste.

Alfons laughed. "What is it with you and Roy anyway? Why do you dislike him so much?"

"Hmm…I could answer that but it'd take me the whole afternoon just to finish naming everything that's wrong with that bastard. So, to make it short, there are people who like each other and people who piss each other off just by existing, we are those people. I had him as my gym teacher a few years ago and he's teaching my Chemistry class right now, we just really don't like each other." Edward explained. "Plus he smells bad, my nose hurts every time he's within a ten feet radius." He continued, making a face.

Alfons raised an eyebrow, Roy smelled fine to him…well at least he thought he did, he never sat close enough to actually know what he smelled like but he did remember a few times when he caught a faint whiff of aftershave coming from him.

"What does he smell like?" Alfons asked curiously.

"He _reeks_ of after shave deodorant and other commercial products. I swear he takes baths in the stuff, I'm surprised even you normal guys can't smell it, it's so strong." Edward replied.

Alfons thought about it again, trying to remember…nope, he was pretty sure Roy smelled perfectly fine.

"What do I smell like?" he wondered aloud, rolling over to his stomach and propping himself up on his elbows so he could look at Edward properly. Edward shifted to make room for him and blinked.

"You smell like many different things, it depends on what you touch or where you go really. But there are a few things that stay pretty much everyday."

"Oh? Like what?" Alfons asked.

"Fabric softener, something that smells like cucumber and melons that I think you put in your hair, a faint hint of chemicals which I assume must be your meds and the scent that just makes you, _you_…It's harder to pick out because it's buried under all the other smells but it's there." Edward replied.

"What does that smell like?" Alfons asked, intrigued.

Edward pursed his lips as he thought about it. "I can't really describe it…the only thing that comes to mind when I think about it is 'Alfons'."

"Try." Alfons encouraged, almost itching with curiousity now.

Edward looked unwilling for a second, then he sighed and pulled Alfons closer, buried his nose in his neck and inhaled deeply. When he pulled away, he had a thoughtful look on his face.

"You smell…clean and crisp…I guess the closest thing I can compare it to is... fresh snow, when you step out the door in the morning. It smells nice."

Alfons was tempted to sniff himself to see if he could pick out what Edward's sharper senses can but for the sake of not looking silly, he didn't. Instead he just smiled.

"Are you warm now?" Edward suddenly asked.

Alfons blinked and nodded. "Yeah."

"Good." Edward murmured before pulling him down on top of him and pressing their mouths together eagerly.

* * *

The days passed by in a blur of last minute homework being assigned by sadistic teachers, Christmas shopping and for Alfons, trying to get an appointment to see a doctor. It was surprisingly hard to get an appointment at the town hospital but Edward solved his problem and told him one afternoon at lunch, "Hohenheim reserved a spot for you in his schedule. He'll see you on the Friday before Christmas break."

So they went, after school on the Friday before Christmas break officially began.

"Has it gotten any worse?" Edward asked as they walked down the halls of the Stratford General Hospital. Occasionally, a nurse or a doctor would pass them by and greet Edward and he responded every time with a small smile and a nod.

"Not really, no. The pain happens once or twice every week and only on my right side, not anywhere else." Alfons replied as they came to a stop in front of a simple grey door. Edward began to say something as he turned the knob and pushed the door open but was cut off when a bright flash caught him full in the face.

"What the hell?" Edward asked in surprise after the split second of blinding light was over.

"Surprise." Hohenheim greeted, holding a digital camera in one hand. "Sorry, I wanted a picture of you two but I know you'd never let me take one so…" he explained.

Alfons just laughed and Edward swore.

"Anyway," Hohenheim said as he put the camera down on his desk and picked up a stethoscope. "Let's get down to business. Hop up onto the exam table would you please, Alfons."

Alfons nodded and did as he was told, absently thinking himself lucky that Edward's father was a doctor. In many hospitals, it usually took a long time to get into a doctor's office just to get a check-up.

Hohenheim raided a cabinet in the corner for something and Edward went to sit on the revolving chair by Hohenheim's desk where he began knocking over the gold plaque that had Hohenehim's name on it and setting it upright over and over again with a disinterested look on his face.

Hohenheim pulled out all the basic tools that doctors used when they checked your temperature and all that and Alfons sat still and waited patiently for Hohenheim to go over the standard check up procedure. He answered truthfully and in as detailed explanations as he could when Hohenheim eventually began asking him questions and Hohenheim nodded every time with a passive look on his face.

"So you say, the pain returned several times since then?" Hohenheim asked.

"Yes." Alfons answered.

"Hmm. I have a pretty good guess as to what's going on but just to be sure," Hohenheim said as he gestured for Alfons to step down from the exam table.

"We'll take some CT scans."

Hohenheim led them to a room with a CT scanner in it and Alfons had to endure painfully getting something injected directly into his bones and lying as still as he could for several minutes while the CT scan did it's work.

When Hohenheim showed him the results, he had to grab Edward's hand and squeeze it to keep himself from having a huge bout of depression right there on the spot.

The Cancer has metastasized, it was spreading to his bones now.

He was already aware of what metastases was and all the painful things that would come along with it, the doctors back in Germany and all the other countries Uncle Alex took him to made sure that it was forever imprinted in his brain but still, he listened when Hohenheim explained it for his and Edward's benefit and paid special attention to the treatments he mentioned for easing the symptoms. He felt numb when Hohenheim told him that he may have to undergo radiation therapy or Chemotherapy. _Again_. And he fought to keep an impassive expression as memories of the awful taste of metal in his mouth and dreadful nausea assaulted his mind.

Hohenheim was a lot more sympathetic than all the other doctors he had. He seemed genuinely grim as he explained what was going on to Alfons and before they left, when he patted Alfons on the head in a fatherly gesture and told him to hang in there, his touch and the look in his eyes told Alfons that he really meant it.

* * *

When they got back to Edward's car, they didn't speak and they just sat there for a few minutes, staring blankly ahead.

"So…what do you plan to do?" Edward asked softly.

Alfons sighed heavily. "I don't know yet…I don't want to spend Christmas hooked up to an IV but if I really have to, then I will…we'll see how it goes. And when it gets really bad, I'll…I'll try radiation or chemo again, even if they _would_ feel like they'll just kill me faster."

"…Alfons," Edward began hesitantly

Alfons looked up and forced a smile. "I promised you I'll try hard and I'm going to, but can I have a few more days of living normally?"

Edward pressed his lips together and his eyebrows furrowed slightly, then he snorted and forced a smile of his own. "Sure. It's Christmas anyway, I'll let you get away with it this time."

Alfons' smile turned genuine. "Thanks….Edward?"

"What?"

Alfons didn't speak but instead leaned over and wrapped his arms around Edward, burying his face into his shoulder and taking comfort in the sweet scent of fabric softener emanating from his jacket. He really shouldn't be so upset, it's not like he didn't expect this to happen...but...he was just human he supposed. Edward stiffened a bit in surprise but realized after a moment that Alfons must really need the comfort and immediately returned the embrace.

They held each other in silence for a long time. Edward ran his hand soothingly over Alfons' back repeatedly and Alfons revelled in the sensation, feeling better with each stroke of his hand, as if he was transferring strength to Alfons with each touch.

Eventually, Alfons pulled back and when he did, he cradled Edward's face in his hands. He kissed him deeply for a few seconds and murmured a small thanks to him when he pulled away. Edward didn't respond but he leaned forward and kissed him soundly on the lips.

* * *

They stopped by a coffee shop for some food before going home and halfway through finishing a tasty tuna salad sandwich, Alfons began to feel better. Edward observed him silently from over the rim of his chocolate espresso as if gouging his depression level and Alfons smiled at him comfortingly.

"This tuna sandwich is really good. You want some?" he asked, gesturing to his plate.

Edward shook his head. "That's ok. Even if I did need it, you'd still need food way more than me."

Alfons offered him a small smile. "I guess so."

There was a short pause as they tried to figure out what to talk about, then Edward asked.

"Oh by the way, what do you want for Christmas?"

Alfons chuckled softly. "That's ok, you don't need to get me anything."

Edward pursed his lips. "But I want to, I'll feel like a douche if I don't. Besides, even if I didn't care, Hohenheim would most probably scold me to death if I don't get you a gift for Christmas."

"But, I don't really want anything." Alfons replied.

"You're sure? Nothing at all?" Edward asked.

"Hmm…well if you really wanted to get me something, anything simple would do." Alfons said.

Edward raised an eyebrow. "Could you be a little less vague?"

Alfons thought of a reply but before he could even move his lips to speak, a shriek of pain rang throughout the whole café and made both of them turn their heads.

Everyone else in the café either turned or stood up to look at what happened and Alfons couldn't help the soft gasp that made it out of his throat when he saw a hugely pregnant woman, sitting alone in a table about two tables away from the booth they were sitting in. Her face was scrunched up in agony and she was clutching her baby bump with one hand while the other was thrown over the back of her chair and clutching tightly onto one of the wooden beams that held the back of the seat up. She was probably holding onto it either to keep herself from sliding to the floor or she was just in so much pain, she needed something to hold on to just to give her hope that it would decrease if she clutched it with all her might.

People immediately ran over to ask her what was wrong and help in any way they can and to his surprise, Edward was one of them. Alfons blinked and almost tripped in his haste to follow when Edward practically leaped out of his chair and dashed to the pregnant lady's aid.

People were yelling left and right for someone to call an ambulance or do something to make themselves useful but amidst all their frantic voices, Alfons still heard Edward yell loud and clear.

"Miss, are you in labor?(A/N: Wtf? this site doesn't allow exclamation marks after question marks anymore! DX there's supposed to be one after the question mark but the site keeps erasing it!) Where's your husband?" Edward asked as he broke through the circle of people surrounding her and knelt by her side.

"He's at work. The due date isn't supposed to be for another 2 weeks, my baby is coming early!" The woman gasped out between whimpers and groans of pain.

"Did somebody call an ambulance yet?" Someone yelled from somewhere behind them.

There was an employee standing behind the woman's chair, fanning her with a menu. He looked up when someone yelled the question and answered. "I did! They said they'd be here as soon as possible."

* * *

"As soon as possible" turned out to be a definitely longer than it seemed 15 minutes later and Edward offered to just drive the woman to the hospital himself several times but she declined (even when Edward told her that he was a completely decent teenager, his father worked in the hospital and a man who knew Hohenheim who was conveniently there confirmed it for her), saying she was in too much pain to sit in a cramped back seat for 15-20 minutes while they drove to the hospital.

The whole café was in a mild state of panic and when the ambulance finally arrived, the relief was practically tangible.

The medics who arrived, wouldn't you know it, knew Edward and even greeted him with a split second smile when they saw him. Good thing too because they didn't make a fuss when Edward lifted the woman in labour onto the stretcher himself, too anxious to even bother pretending to be a feeble, short human teenager.

Everyone stared, wide eyed and slack-jawed when Edward slipped his arms beneath the pregnant lady and lifted her into his arms without so much as a grunt, Alfons included. Some distant voice in his head worried that Edward was being a little too _in_human at the moment but it was overshadowed by the worry and anxiousness he felt for the pregnant woman and her child's safety.

Several people including him and Edward followed outside when they loaded the woman into the ambulance and Alfons stood, observing silently when she surprised everyone by stopping the paramedics. She only held them off for a second and in that short pause, she grabbed Edward's hand and thanked him.

The two of them stood there, staring at the ambulance as it drove away and when it disappeared from their sight, Alfons turned to Edward.

"That was really nice of you, offering to drive her to the hospital and all that."

"I got stuck in an elevator once with a pregnant woman who went into labour…It scared the shit out of me." Edward replied and the look on his face made Alfons chuckle softly.

"Traumatized eh?" he asked.

"Big time. I was lucky she didn't actually give birth _in_ the elevator." Edward answered with a small shudder.

Alfons laughed and reached for his hand. "She'll be fine." He assured. "And just to get rid of the trauma, think about this, because of you, a mother and her baby are both alive. You saved them." He continued.

The strangest look crossed Edward's face then but it went by so fast that he wasn't sure he even really saw it in the first place. It seemed like a mixture of realization and something else but again, it passed by too fast for him to be sure. Edward exhaled heavily and squeezed his hand.

"Yeah. Let's go home now." Edward said.

* * *

The café incident helped Alfons forget about the visit to Hohenheim earlier but by the time Edward dropped him off at his house, the gloom, the fear and the vague feeling of helplessness that he felt earlier moved back into the forefront of his mind and after Edward walked him to the door and turned to go back to his car, he found himself incapable of letting him go.

Edward looked at him questioningly when he suddenly grabbed his arm with both hands and he murmured. "Don't go yet." He didn't know if the things he was feeling were written plainly on his face but they must've been because Edward took one look at him and nodded silently.

He didn't let go of Edward's arm until they were in the living room, where he pulled Edward down to the couch and leaned tiredly on his shoulder.

Now that he knew for a fact that he really was getting worse, what little time he knew he had left seemed even shorter and he wanted to keep Edward next to him for as long as he could get away with it. He wanted to savor every second, soon enough he'd be confined in a hospital and he would either be too fragile and weak or in too much pain to curl up against Edward like this.

Like he did in the car, Edward seemed to understand that he really needed to be comforted right then and securely locked his arms around him.

"What a crazy afternoon huh?" Alfons murmured, feeling like a small, defenseless child when Edward tucked his head under his chin and put one hand on the back of his head, stroking his short blond hair with his fingertips.

"Yeah." Edward agreed.

And that was pretty much it for conversation.

They sat there for a few minutes in silence and when Grandpa Grumman suddenly came downstairs and anxiously asked them "How did the check up go?" they still didn't speak. However, they didn't seem to have to because Grandpa Grumman took one look at their faces and the lines of worry on his face relaxed into a muted crestfallen look.

"You know what? You can tell me later…are you two hungry?" he asked hesitantly, looking like he desperately wanted to make them feel better.

"Not right now no, thanks anyway Grandpa." Alfons answered with a small smile.

Grandpa Grumman nodded. "Alright then, I'll just leave you boys alone. Feel free to stay as long as you want Ed." He said, smiling at Edward softly.

"Thanks." Edward murmured.

Grandpa Grumman walked over and kissed Alfons on the head and with one last smile at the two of them, retreated back upstairs.

"Edward?" Alfons murmured after he was gone.

"Hm?"

He wanted to ask him to stay until he woke up. "Nothing…I'm tired."

"Go to sleep then." Edward murmured, rubbing comforting circles into his scalp.

They fell back into silence after that and even though there was no heartbeat or the rhythmic sound of another person's breathing that usually soothed people to sleep, Alfons fell asleep anyway. When he did, Edward carefully slipped out from under Alfons and gathered him up into his arms. Alfons twitched as he was lifted up off the couch and Edward stiffened a bit, thinking he had woken him up. However, the blue eyed boy just muttered some sleepy nonsense, buried his face in the crook of Edward's neck and draped his arms over his shoulders.

Edward let out a soft sigh and walked towards the stairs. He paused when he saw the picture of Alfons' family that he has pointed out last month. His eyes got drawn to the blond woman who had her stunning sky blue eyes copied perfectly onto Alfons' face. He stared at her for a long moment, then his lips twitched into a small mysterious smile.

"I knew it was you." He whispered before turning away and proceeding up the stairs.

He went straight into Alfons' room and carefully lowered him to his bed, smiling faintly when the taller blond didn't let go of him until he tugged his arms off.

Ocher eyes took in Alfons' sleeping face intently as pale fingers rose to brush light blond bangs away from closed blue eyes.

He had lived for over a century but still, things like these never fail to surprise him.

The first pregnant woman he dealt with, it was about 17 years ago now but he remembered that day with perfect clarity. He and Hohenheim were in Stratford because Hohenheim wanted to experience the infamous Shakespeare festival. He was at the mall, taking the elevator because he was bored and that's when he met her. She had wide eyes that sparkled with kindness and innocence, and even if they were a different color, they reminded him of his mother's eyes, the same eyes that Al had inherited. He wasn't planning on speaking to her but after the elevator broke down, he found himself talking anyway.

She was pregnant and he remembered clearly the weird sort of warm awe that he felt when he asked her if he could touch her belly and she said yes. She said she was going to name the baby Joshua.

He had wished her goodluck on her baby and it still made him shudder now whenever he recalled the mind-numbing horror he felt when not even 10 seconds after he said it, she gasped out a yelp of pain and clutched her pregnant stomach. He had done everything he possibly could have done to call for help from within the elevator, except what he knew he could've done as the monster he was and not the human he pretended to be, because if he had forced the doors open with his bare hands, she might possibly pass out and that wasn't good.

So, he just held her hand and repeatedly told her encouragements as she did breathing exercises for the entire hour and a half that it took for help to come. He probably never felt as useless as he did then when she thanked him even when all he did was be there and hold her hand. She asked him his name and he had declined vigorously when she hinted that she might name her baby "Edward" instead. He didn't let up even when she insisted that it was a nice name and in the end, she just settled for asking him what his favourite boy name was.

Looking into her wide sky blue eyes that still reflected kindness and an echo of a never fading smile even when she was twisting in pain, he couldn't help but answer. "Alphonse."

He smiled softly as he trailed the back of his knuckles over Alfons' cheek.

When help eventually came, she stopped them right before they wheeled her away on a stretcher. She took his hand, thanked him again and told him that because of him, she and her baby were alive.

_Because of you, a mother and her baby are both alive. You saved them_.

"I 'saved' you once. How come I couldn't do it again?" he whispered.

"….mmm… Edward,"

Edward pulled his hand back in surprise when Alfons spoke and sighed softly when Alfons' eyes remained closed. The taller blond stirred a bit and muttered some incoherent nonsense that didn't even sound English.

Edward leaned closer curiously, trying to decipher the sleep talk.

"Verlass mich nicht…Ich will dich nicht verlieren doch."

Yup, definitely not English. He smiled fondly and leaned down to kiss Alfons on the lips and when he sat up, he looked at the faint sliver of light drifting in through Alfons' curtains from a street lamp outside. He sighed.

5 bloodthirsty, pun intended, sadistic immortals intent on draining him of his blood after torturing him mercilessly were coming to get him and the person he cared most about in the world was slowly but surely getting closer to death. Things couldn't…scratch that…they very well _could_ get much, much worse. He frowned.

If he stayed then there was a decently high risk of Alfons getting caught in the crosshairs when they came for him but if he left, especially when he knew that the cancer was already spreading…he shuddered, he didn't even want to _imagine _the possibilities.

Stay and risk Alfons' safety? Or leave when Alfons would need him most _and_ risk Alfons' safety while he was at it?

He sighed through his nose and grabbed Alfons' hand. He can't believe he even had to wonder about the answer. He wondered if there really was a god up there and he was laughing at him now.

"Fuck my life." Edward muttered.

He might possibly be making Alfons' life even shorter by refusing to leave but hey, whenever he was at fault, he always makes sure that he'd clean up his mess. They'd literally have to do the impossible and _kill_ him first before they even come within 50 feet of Alfons. And besides, he _needed_ to be here for every single second that Alfons had left, he'd never forgive himself if he missed a single one.

* * *

Ahaha, I know Ed, I say that all the time about my life too XD

The theory of triangular love belongs to Dr. Robert Sternberg and I thank my Individual and Families(it's a social science course) teacher for teaching me about it XDDDD

Ok, I'm going to go do my homework now XD

I know the chapter _sucked_ I'll probably delete it and replace it later but still,

(holds out review can like a hobo) some spare reviews pleaseeeee?


	13. Chapter 13

Hallo Everybody :D How have you all been?

I'm baaaack ^^ with chapter 13!

Now, before I let you go, I just wanna say that whenever someone asks me something in a review, I always try to reply so if you did ask me anything, check your mailbox because I replied to a few some days ago.

Alright, that is all.

ENJOY everybody ^^

* * *

Vincent Stefan Grumman or just Grandpa Grumman to his beloved grand children, observed silently from the entrance to the kitchen at his equally silent grand son.

It was the 21st of December, four days since they received the news about Alfons' worsening condition and so far, since he found him and Edward curled up on the couch looking more sombre than he had ever seen anyone their age look, Alfons had been quiet and even a little distant. Of course, he had every right to be and he was actually surprised it wasn't worse than this but still, he was beginning to get really worried about him.

Alfons was sitting, curled up on one of the kitchen chairs. He had both feet propped up on the chair, knees pressed against his chest and he was absently poking at something in a mug with a spoon. Grandpa Grumman frowned, he couldn't see his face but even so, just the set of his shoulders and the dullness in his movements reminded him a bit of how he had gotten back when he was just 6, after it sunk in that his Mama and Papa were both never coming back.

He walked over slowly to where he sat, making sure that his footsteps could be heard so that Alfons wouldn't get startled. He looked over Alfons' shoulder at what he was neglectfully pushing around in the mug with his spoon and let out a half hearted chuckle of amusement.

"What are you doing eating ice cream in the middle of winter?" he asked.

Alfons didn't even look up and shrugged listlessly, speaking in a voice that contained just as much enthusiasm, "Because we _have_ ice cream in the middle of winter."

Grandpa Grumman sighed. "I suppose, there's still more than enough left over for dessert on the 25th. Though, I'm not sure eating cold things is really that healthy for you right now…"

Alfons' hand, which was still poking at the partially melted vanilla ice cream in his mug, suddenly stopped moving.

"What does that matter?"

He murmured in a voice so tiny, so quiet and so unlike him that it made Grandpa Grumman's heart ache.

"…Alfons,"

Alfons sighed and hung his head, then he looked up at him with cheerless, apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry Grandpa. I know I'm moping way too much…it's really pathetic I know, considering I moved all the way back here to _avoid_ moping…" Alfons said, sounding completely resentful.

Grandpa Grumman reached out and patted him gently on the head. "It's ok…I'll be alarmed if you _didn't_ mope even the tiniest bit." He said, chuckling half heartedly. "But anyway, you don't have to apologize for anything, unless you really want to, in which case just a small smile would do." He continued, tapping Alfons' porcelain pale cheek with his index finger.

Alfons offered him a half smile, which he returned.

"There you go. Is Ed coming over today?" he asked.

Now a days the only thing that can lift Alfons' mood, even if only just a fraction, was his doctor's fair haired, fair-skinned son. And like he had in the past few days, he knew Alfons could sure use his help right about now.

"I don't know. I don't think so, he said he had something to do today." Alfons answered. "and besides, I've been pretty much useless the past few days, I think it'd do him some good to take a break from my sulking. He's probably bored of me now." He added with a small smile.

Grandpa Grumman frowned. "Edward would never get bored of you."

The helpless look on his face every time Alfons just sat there silently with the most lifeless look in his eyes, as if he was screaming inside because he couldn't do anything to stop it, was more than enough to let him know that Edward would never, ever get tired of trying to comfort Alfons.

Alfons didn't answer and he continued. "You know what? Why don't we go next door to Riza's? I think being around more people would be good for you."

* * *

Blond eyebrows drew together over irked ocher eyes and for the millionth time in less than 2 minutes, he reached down and practically punched the car horn three times.

"Goddammit, stupid assholes don't even know how to drive…"

Edward muttered under his breath as he entertained thoughts of stepping out of his car, finding the source of the traffic jam and kicking them _and_ their stupid cars off the road. With his bare hands. Pretending to be human be damned.

He was currently on his way to Alfons house, even though he was supposed to be out buying him a present. He had been awake since 1 AM that morning trying (and failing _miserably_) to figure out what to get Alfons for Christmas and when he gave up and just asked Hohenheim for help. (He was really desperate), Hohenheim had simply looked at him with wide eyes, asked "You mean you _haven't_ gotten one yet?", gave him over $300 in cash, grabbed him by the back of his collar and threw him out the door. He had wondered around the mall for hours after that, just walking around and hoping that something would just catch his eye and he'd just know that that was Alfons would like.

And based on the fact that here he was in his car, which was empty aside from him and the money in his pocket then you can only guess how well that went.

He puffed out his cheeks and blew the air out in an exasperated breath.

Alfons wasn't really the type to want anything. He was ridiculously simple for an only child who grew up in a grand mansion somewhere in Germany… or maybe that was _why_ he was simple. He already _had_ everything, nevermind if a good percentage of his everything was all the way back in Europe, he had experienced owning them and was probably tired of them now.

Edward drummed his fingers against the stirring wheel.

If things were different, he wouldn't even be bothered the slightest bit, he was never really one to give presents and just like every other religion based holiday, he treated Christmas just like any other damn day. However, Alfons and his family celebrated Christmas and _this_ particular one may very well be his _last_ and Edward wanted him to enjoy it.

And _that_ is why he was going to get him a mother eff-ing present no matter what.

Even if he had to be lame by losing the element of surprise and going directly to Alfons to ask him what the hell he wanted.

"Ughhh, come on dammit move." He grumbled, his hand twitching towards the horn again. Before he could honk it however, he almost jumped back in his seat when a random stranger literally leaped out of nowhere and landed right in front of his car. Edward cursed loudly in surprise and sighed heavily when he realized that the person who jumped in front of his (thankfully unmoving) car was just a hobo.

The stick thin man with greasy, unruly brown hair sticking out from under the dirtied, frayed hood of the jacket he wore grinned at him, exposing blackened, incomplete teeth and waved. Edward shook his head and pressed down on the car horn until the long 'beeeeeeeep' coming from his car made the hobo move away. The homeless man grinned at him wider before shoving his hands into his holey pockets and sauntering off to the other side of the street as if he was walking leisurely through a park.

"Wierdo." Edward muttered, watching him leave. Then the car in front of him _finally_ moved and he resisted the urge to slam his foot down as he stepped on the gas.

From his place on the concrete side walk, the gangly, scruffy man in with the untidy brown hair watched the red car as it slowly inched away. He smirked and if anyone had been nearby and paying special attention, they would have seen how his boring doe brown eyes brightened into unnatural slitted, amethyst ones.

"Found you." He whispered in a sing-song voice.

* * *

Katrina repeatedly slapped her little hands against his forearms and gurgled something before pressing one small, dimpled palm against the open story book that that he had in his hand. Alfons readjusted his hold around her small torso and pulled her closer to himself before continuing with reading the tale of Rapunzel for her.

Roy was in the basement watching TV, Riza was in the kitchen making sandwiches and Grandpa Grumman went back to their house a few minutes ago to get some mayonnaise for the sandwiches Riza was making. Hence, he was here, entertaining the baby. Not that he minded at all, he actually liked the sole Mustang child and she seemed to like him back twice as much so really, all the other adults could leave her with him for as long as they wanted.

And besides, Katrina was the only person who was completely oblivious to the aura of gloom that constantly surrounded him these days. He didn't feel guilty about sulking around her because _she_ never looked at him with worried and troubled eyes.

"And much to the prince's surprise, a long, long, braid of hair suddenly fell."

Alfons continued and before he could get the next word out, the front door suddenly opened and in came Grandpa Grumman, holding a jar of mayo. He smiled as soon as he saw Alfons and waved when Katrina shrieked in delight at the sight of him.

"Guess who I ran into on my way back here." He said, turning his attention back to Alfons.

Alfons tilted his head in curiosity and just as he was about to ask who, a head of blond hair suddenly popped up behind Grandpa Grumman's shoulder and stepped to the side so he could see a pale boyish face that contradicted the person's real age and stunning ocher eyes.

At the sight of him, Alfons immediately stood up from where he sat on the Mustang's plump couch and went over to give his significant other a hug…or something that was as close to a hug as he could give while carrying a ten month old baby girl in his arms.

Edward dutifully responded and placed his hands on Alfons' back when the taller blond rested his chin on his shoulder and beside them, Grandpa Grumman just looked on with a small smile. He was already used to this, especially after Alfons' check up with Hohenheim, Alfons had grown to be almost clingy when it came to Edward.

"I thought you had plans today."

Alfons said as their unconventional embrace broke.

Edward shrugged. "I was looking for a present to buy for you but I can't figure out what to get so I came here to drag you over to the mall and just have you choose what you want." He replied.

Alfons raised an eyebrow. "That's…not usually how gift giving works." he trailed off with an amused smile.

Edward shrugged again. "I don't care. Screw tradition, all I care about is getting you something you'd really like."

Grandpa Grumman chuckled. "Oh, go on ahead Alfons. He does have a point, somewhat. What better way to ensure your present would be appreciated, than to have the receiver of said present pick it out himself?" he asked. Then he turned and marched into the kitchen.

"Besides, when was the last time you went anywhere other than Edward's house? You two have fun. Experience Christmas time in Stratford." He called over his shoulder with a smile.

Alfons blinked at his retreating back. Well…that was… too easy. Usually people his age wouldn't just let his grandson go with his significant other, even if said significant other was a family friend of sorts.

"See? Now grab the thickest winter coat you own and let's go before all the shops get sold out." Edward said, grabbing his arm and tugging on it. Alfons opened his mouth to protest but stopped when he realized that Edward had that look in his eye that usually meant that whoever disagreed with him will face many hours of persistent badgering or get dragged away against their own will.

Alfons sighed. "Alright fine."

* * *

Katrina cried when he passed her back to Riza and he would've stayed for five more minutes to soothe her into stopping but unfortunately, Edward seemed to be quite impatient tonight and all but yanked him out the door and into his car.

They had to endure several _eons_ of traffic on the road and when they got there, had to endure it _again_ in human form in the mall. For a second, Alfons wondered why there were suddenly so many people but then he realized that Christmas was literally days away and people must be either flooding in from all over the country to visit relatives or doing some last minute shopping.

Edward dragged him through practically every shop in every floor but he didn't find anything he really wanted in any of them. However Edward, stubborn as he is, refused to give up. Luckily for him, his frail state caught up to him somewhere in the middle of all of the force-shopping and Edward had to give in and agree when he asked him if they could go home.

Alfons sighed softly to himself as he watched the world go by inch by inch from behind the toasty cabin of Edward's car, one hand pressed against his aching side while the other hung down in the space between them, clutching Edward's hand.

"Has it gotten any better? Worse?"

Edward asked, turning his attention away from the line of traffic in front of them to look at him.

Alfons shook his head. "It's just as bad as it always is. It happens a lot during night time." He replied, gazing absently at the lit street lamps as he did so.

"Sorry." Edward murmured, looking guilty.

"Don't be. It's okay." Alfons answered.

"Why didn't you tell me it usually happens at night now?" Edward asked.

"Well, it only started happening at night three days ago. Anyway, it's fine. Really." Alfons replied, squeezing his hand gently.

Edward didn't reply but the guilt never left his eyes and Alfons suddenly found his throat tightening as the cloud of gloom that's been hanging over his head for the past few days materialized over him again… along with something else that made him feel a warm, wrenching feeling in his chest.

Not for the first time, he thought, Edward really cared about him. Quite a lot.

It made his heart flutter with elation and ache with sadness at the same time.

Just when he found someone whom he cared about a great deal and who cared about him just as much, he was going to die. Oh irony, how cruel you can be. Come to think of it, his life was filled with irony. 11 years ago, his mother was taken away by the same thing that was slowly taking him away, in the exact same place where he was now. He was dying and the one person he just happened to fall for was someone who would never die. And final and most painful of all, said person just so happened to return the favor and fall for _him _too. And now, when he was only a few steps away from the eternal sleep he had claimed to accept, he didn't want to go through with it.

"Are you ok? You're frowning. Is it hurting worse? Do you want to move to the backseat so you could lie down?" Edward asked.

Alfons shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

"You're sure?" Edward asked, his golden eyebrows furrowing.

Alfons smiled and nodded. "Mmhmm."

"Ok…" Edward said hesitantly. "…Are you sure you don't want anything for Christmas?" he continued after short pause.

Alfons chuckled softly "I don't want anything in particular but I'm sure I'd like anything you'd give me…unless it cost more than 500 bucks." Alfons replied. Yeah, it wouldn't be practical to spend so much money on a present for him, soon enough, all the daily activities he'd have were lying on a bed hooked to machines and trying to stay alive through the excruciating pain in his cancer infested bones…Alfons frowned, ok, that was a little _too_ angsty. He shook his head.

"Argh, give me some sort of criteria will you?" Edward asked.

Alfons thought about it for a minute. "Hmm…okay…how about something that would always remind me of you?" he asked.

"Something less vague and general please." Edward said flatly.

Alfons chuckled. "Ok, umm…something small that I could always carry around with me, something simple and considerably durable. There, is that specific enough?" he asked.

Edward looked like he was memorizing what Alfons had just said, then he slowly nodded.

"Alright, I think that would do. I should be able to find something like that in the next 2, 3 days." Edward replied.

Alfons let loose a short chuckle. "Why is giving me a gift so important to you?"

Edward looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Why wouldn't it be? I'm your…I mean, you're my…my...boyf- Argh! I just can't say it." Edward said with a small shudder. "Anyway yeah, I'd be an even worse romantically involved person than your cousin's husband if this wasn't important to me. Besides, like Dr. Sternberg said, without expression even the most powerful of-"

"-Loves can die, yeah you told me that before." Alfons said, cutting him off with a small smile on his face.

"I think giving nice stuff to the person you're in a relationship with counts as expression, so yeah." Edward said with a shrug.

All of a sudden his chest felt a little tight as the happiness and sadness fighting for space within it both grew twice in size. He remembered that time in Edward's room when he first told him about Dr. Sternberg's theory of love, when he realized that it was the only equivalent to an 'I love you' that he was ever going to get from Edward.

He swallowed at the lump that suddenly invaded his throat and he bit his lip. Now, for some reason, he wanted to…

"Edward?" he asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Hm?" Edward asked, curious at his tone.

Alfons opened his mouth but closed it again.

"…Nothing. Nevermind."

Edward looked at him with a mild calculating look but he let it go. "Alright." He said.

Alfons stared out his window and tightened his hold on Edward's hand. Love is a very strong word, he believed that and so he also believed that someone his age wouldn't know what it was, not until he was 30 and had gone through countless test subjects.

He believed that, he did.

But for some weird reason, he _felt_ like whatever he felt for Edward now was…He had always known that he loved Edward, but not in that rare, special way. He had always seen him more like a dear, dear friend whom he just happened to find attractive and whom he enjoyed kissing but now…it felt like that's been changed for some time now and he just realized it just a few seconds ago. It felt like what he felt for Edward was beyond what he had originally thought…

For the first time in his life, his thoughts contradicted what he felt. His eyebrows furrowed slightly. Perhaps, he just felt that way because he knew how fast his time seemed to be approaching.

However, when they finally made it to his house and they stepped out of the car, when Edward turned to face him, just the mere _sight_ of his face, one look into those rare, deep, ocher eyes and his chest was aching with a pain that felt so warm and before he knew what he was doing, he had stepped closer and leant down to kiss him. He kissed him for a long long time, with every little bit of whatever was making every nerve in his body revel in the contact and making his chest felt like there was a small fluttering flame residing in it.

When he pulled away, he remained within kissing distance, his forehead practically touching Edward's.

"What was that for?" Edward asked softly.

"No reason. Besides, I didn't hear you complaining." Alfons replied.

Edward snorted softly but the Alfons felt his lips brush gently against his when he smiled.

Yeah, if he was just being an infatuated teenager who thinks he's in love because he was dying, then his emotions did a pretty _damn_ good job of making him think otherwise.

* * *

He watched them from the roof, mostly unseen because of the dark clothes he managed to steal from some unlucky, emo kid he ran into earlier. Amethyst eyes gleamed in twisted delight when the red freak-car pulled up in front of the house and out stepped the puny little blond runt. He looked just as short and disgustingly dignified as he had in the last hundred years and his fingers itched to wrap themselves around his neck and just twist until he heard something crack.

He tensed, preparing to jump down and go straight for the kill, ignoring the other, short haired blond boy that stepped out from the other side of the car. He never really did care about witnesses, that was Pride's and Wrath's job, the calculating, stoic bastards. However he never had to see their hideous poker faces again and he could do whatever the hell he pleased. Besides, he thought as he flexed his fingers. He could very easily kill the other blond and everyone else who cared to run outside and see what the hell was going on.

He smiled.

"If you hadn't gone to his house earlier, then maybe he wouldn't have to die. Stupid, stupid asshole, your friend's blood is on your hands buddy." He murmured to himself just as he gathered power into his legs and prepared to jump.

But then, something happened that made him freeze and hold back from jumping down and slaughtering the little blond immortal he had spent years trying to find. He watched, wide eyed when the taller blond boy with short hair suddenly leaned down and, even if he was all the way up on the roof and it was dark, he saw him clearly _kiss_ the brat, right on the mouth.

He blinked and raised an eyebrow when the pipsqueak tilted his head to the side and his arms moved up to rest on the taller boy's shoulders. They kissed for a pretty long time and their movements left no doubt to anyone who saw them, even _him_ that they cared about each other. Afterwards, they had a short conversation before the taller boy grabbed the pipsqueak by the hand and lead him inside.

For an entire minute after they had left, he remained silent, digesting what he just saw.

The brat…had a boyfriend?

A wide smile suddenly broke across his face, then he laughed.

Oh god, that was fucking priceless.

Immediately, with the knew knowledge in his arsenal, his brain formulated a plan, far more fantastic and promising than his original 'find him and cut his heart out after gouging his eyeballs' plan.

"Hmm…funny, I finally found him and now I'm going to wait before I kill him." He muttered to himself as he slowly stood. He was surprised really, he was sadistic but it wasn't in his nature to hesitate…he smirked.

However it _had_ been Lust's and Wrath's and Pride's…perhaps he got more than he bargained for. But no matter, he knew that the delay would pay off… really, really well.

It was going to be well worth the wait, watching those gold eyes burning in anger and agony when he used something he cared about to torture him.

* * *

Christmas came soon enough and though it took three people to get him to put Alfons down and stop crushing his fragile body, he was more than happy to see Uncle Alex. He, Uncle Alex(after several hours of catching up with Alfons and subjecting him to suffocating hugs) Grandpa Grumman and Riza had all spent majority of the day cooking all the things they were going to eat later on at dinner. It tired them out, but that night when the Elrics and the Mustangs were all present, sitting around the table, talking and laughing(or in Roy's and Edward's case, making threats at each other in the least crude way) it made them feel like all the hard work had been worth it.

Even though everybody pretty much just met each other, they all sat around the table talking like they were lifelong friends. A cheery, very familial aura hung in the air all throughout the evening and it was so effectual that it made Alfons totally forget that he had been spending the past few days in a mist of depression.

Spending time with all the people he loved, he managed to get back on track regarding his 'live life as happily and fully as I could' plan. Because as they sat, scattered about in the living room after dinner Alfons looked around at each face and realized that these were the faces he was leaving behind and he adored every single one of them. They would most probably be sad when his time comes but if they knew that he died with no regrets and he had been content with the life he lived then, they wouldn't be as sad as they could be. So he was going to do that for them, _live _in all the time he had left.

Grandpa Grumman, Hohenheim and Uncle Alex sat on the couch and on his lap, Grandpa Grumman had the exquisite wooden carving of a bear that Uncle Alex had gotten him as a present. Uncle Alex was explaining in great detail how he used sculpting techniques that were passed down in his family for generations, to carve the bear out of wood and Grandpa Grumman and Hohenheim (for some weird reason) were listening intently, looking with apt fascination whenever Uncle Alex pointed to one of the many detailed parts of the bear. Oh well, weird minds think alike.

On the adjoining couch, the Mustang family sat, playing with their daughter using the new baby toys that Grandpa Grumman had gotten her. And finally, on the floor in front of the coffee table, Edward and Alfons sat, playing with the glass chess set that Grandpa Grumman had given Alfons. The expensive cashmere hoodie that the Mustang couple had gotten him sat next to him on the floor and on his other side, the intricately carved ivory box that looked like it was a hundred years old(which it probably was) containing brand new, hard bound novels from Hohenheim and the small velvet box containing a genuine silver necklace with a diamond encrusted cross pendant that Uncle Alex had gotten him, sat.

On the wall, visible above the TV, on a hook that Uncle Alex himself had screwed into the wall earlier, hung the finished portrait of Alfons that he had started just before he left. He said that he had many paintings of Alfons back home and thought that maybe he should give this one to Grandpa Grumman.

"Where's the gift that you were stressing out about getting to me a few days ago?" Alfons murmured to Edward as he shifted slightly to the right. Edward followed his movements, keeping himself aligned with Alfons so that he was partially hidden from Uncle Alex's sight. Alfons smiled in amusement.

Sometime earlier, he figured that since _nobody_ around him seemed to find anything wrong with his relationship with Edward, he might as well push his luck and let Uncle Alex know. Besides, he was closer to Uncle Alex than anyone else on the planet, if anyone could be accepting and understanding, it should be him.

So he told him, and he didn't disappoint. He was quiet for a few seconds, digesting what he had just been told and then he freaked Edward out by suddenly walking over to him and pulling him up into a bone-crushing embrace and thanking him. Then he had set Edward down and basically gave him the age old 'hurt him and I will shoot you in the face with my rifle' speech that father's usually give to their daughter's first boyfriend.

After that, Edward tried to stay away from Uncle Alex as much as possible and did so by hiding behind the one person he knew the large blond mustached man wouldn't even dare think about raising a hand to, Alfons.

Wow, he never thought he'd live to see the day when _Edward_ would hide behind _him_ because he was afraid of something.

"I'll give it to you later," Edward answered, turning his head to the side to look at something.

Alfons did as well, wondering what he was looking at.

Katrina was staring at Edward, her lips pushed out in a pout and her eyebrows furrowed over her large brown eyes. She was looking at him like a baby would usually look at something that had just stolen her favourite toy from her, or at a bothersome insect that had just refused to stop bothering her. Come to think of it, she's been looking at him like that ever since he got here.

"She doesn't seem to like you very much does she?" Alfons asked.

Then as if to answer his question, Katrina suddenly grabbed the chinchilla shaped rattle that Riza was waving in front of her and threw it in Edward's direction.

Alfons raised his eyebrows in surprise and Edward stuck his tongue out at the little girl.

Then, to everyone's surprise, Katrina's face scrunched up and she let loose a wail. Everyone in the room looked to her with the mild alarm that adults always look at crying babies with and Roy and Riza immediately set about trying to figure out what's wrong and getting her to stop crying.

"Tch. Well, I don't like her either." Edward muttered with a small pout. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised, it is half Mustang after all." He continued, moving one pawn and stealing Alfons' knight. Alfons laughed and made his own move.

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence, maybe she needs changing or she's hungry. Anyway, why not just give me the present now? I already gave you yours." Alfons said, gesturing with his eyes at the spot on the floor next to Edward, where the small box containing the gothic/punk iron skull necklace he had gotten Edward lay. It didn't cost much and he thought of Edward the split second he first laid eyes on it so before he could have second thoughts, he had purchased it.

"Because…just because." Edward muttered, his head sinking into the oversized black turtle neck sweater he wore as if he was embarrassed, making Alfons tilt his head in curiosity.

Later, he found out why Edward was so hesitant to give him the present.

After everyone had moved back to the kitchen for some red wine and coffee, Edward pulled him back and told him to sit on the couch while he went to fetch the present. He did so obediently, fidgety with curiosity as he waited. Eventually, Edward walked back into the living room, holding a simple box in his hand. He sat down next to Alfons with an uncomfortable look on his face and he all but shoved the box onto Alfons' lap, his gaze averted.

"I saw it and I just thought…you…ihopeyoulikeit." He mumbled.

Alfons took the box and opened it hurriedly, struggling a bit with the thousands of strips of tape that were stuck to every corner of it. Once he finally got it open, he parted the crepe paper and took out something a bit weighty that was wrapped completely in bubble wrap. Alfons set it on his lap and slowly peeled away the bubble wrap.

"Oh, wow. It's beautiful, where did you find this?"

Alfons asked with wide eyes and a soft smile as he lifted the object up to eye level.

It was a genuine, glass snow globe that lived up quite well to it's name. The base was made out of painted ceramic that was a blend of light blues and whites with tiny snow flakes adorning it in pretty patterns. In the center of it, inside the glass, there was a large, three-dimensional, sapphire encrusted, silver snow flake.

"In my basement, Hohenheim had it lying around and he said it was ok when I asked him if I could give it to you." Edward replied. "I just thought, since you like snow so much and since you actually kind of smell like it…do you like it?"

Alfons shook the snow globe and watched with apt fascination as the glitter and little bits of fake snow inside floated around the giant snowflake in the middle.

"Very much. Thank you." He said with a smile.

Edward nodded and went silent for a few seconds, then he turned his gaze to the floor and he muttered.

"There's one more thing."

Alfons paused in admiring his new snow globe to look at him questioningly.

Edward looked adorably flustered as he turned his gaze to the side. "It's not as nice or expensive looking than the snow globe and it's also pretty old but it was the only thing I could think of, that fit all of your standards so…"

He grabbed Alfons' hand and forced something into his palm, closing his fingers over it so that Alfons couldn't see right away what it was.

"If you don't like it, I could go out and buy you something." Edward blurted out as Alfons slowly opened his fingers.

There, resting lightly on his palm was a simple woven bracelet. It was made out of two different shades of yellow yarn and one single red ribbon. It looked pretty old but still in good condition, the yarn and the ribbon were all faded and slightly frayed but not so much that the bracelet looked like it was going to break in a month or less. The only thing that stood out about it was the relatively new looking, little amber gem attached to the clasp. It had a childlike feel to it, like something that a person in their 40s would keep as a memoir of their peaceful, happy childhood.

"Where did you get this?" Alfons asked curiously.

"My mom made it for me, she gave it to me for my 17th birthday. You said you wanted something that would remind you of me and that's easy to carry around. I've worn this thing while swimming in the river, chopping wood, wrestling with my brother and almost getting kill-…" Edward abruptly cut himself off and steered himself away from what he had been about to say, "-every other thing where I could've lost it, it never came off my wrist. It's so easy to carry around, you'd forget it's there. But it won't come off easily, see? It's easy to carry and durable like you wanted and most of all, seeing as my mother made this _for_ me, I'm sure it would remind you of me." Edward explained.

Alfons looked at him wide eyed before turning his gaze to the ancient bracelet on his palm. He calculated it a long time ago and he knew that by now, Edward was just about 111, then that means that this bracelet was made sometime during the 1910's and was probably one of the few surviving things that Edward had from not only his childhood, but of his human life. He voiced this out to Edward who shrugged and said.

"Aside from the swing outside my garage, it's the _only_ thing I have from my old…well, very first house."

Alfons' eyes widened. "I can't possibly accept this, isn't it important to you?" he asked.

"Of course it is, that's why I don't mind giving it to you. Besides, it's been wasting away in a dark, air- tight safe shoved in the very back of my closet for decades, I'm sure my mom would be happier this way."

"But-" Alfons began.

"I know it's kinda…ok, _very_ creepy knowing that this was on my wrist when I "died" but I can assure you, I washed it before today and you wouldn't see any blood stains on it…hmm, I probably shouldn't have said that…Anyway! I know it's not exactly the most expensive gift or the nicest looking but-"

"It's not that, It's just that…why would you give this to _me_? Isn't it the only thing you have that your mother made for you? It's way too important isn't it?" Alfons asked.

Edward was silent for a minute, then he turned his face away and spoke in a voice so soft, Alfons almost didn't hear him.

"I wouldn't give up something important for something any less important to me than it is."

Even if he knew that such a thing was impossible, Alfons could swear he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Edward…" he murmured.

"Now are you going to take it or not? Because if not, tell me now so that I could run out and get you something else." Edward asked, looking flustered and just a tiny bit disappointed, making Alfons feel a small twinge of guilt.

Edward had pretty much just held out a shred of his soul to Alfons and he almost refused it, thinking it was too precious for him to accept. It was such a vulnerable, sweet, human gesture and for someone like Edward, who hated making himself seem vulnerable, to do it…

Again, there was that warm ache in his chest and three little words _screamed_ at him to say them but he managed to resist and instead, pulled Edward tightly into a hug. Edward made a little sound of surprise when Alfons suddenly threw his arms around his neck but he returned the hug nevertheless. He kissed Edward's jaw before burying his nose in the thick collar of his turtle neck. He tightened his hold on the ancient woven bracelet in his palm and murmured a "Thank you." into the thick material of Edward's sweater.

"So…you like it then?" Edward asked hesitantly, sounding more unsure and human than he had ever heard him sound.

Alfons pulled back and kissed him long and tender, right on the lips. When he pulled away, he held out the bracelet and his left wrist.

Edward stared at him silently for a few seconds then he slowly smiled and took the bracelet from Alfons' open palm and fastened it securely around his left wrist.

"You know, you're awfully sweet for a vampire." Alfons commented with a small teasing smile.

Edward snorted and abruptly looked away, giving Alfons the impression that he would've been blushing right then if he could.

"Shut up." Edward muttered.

Alfons laughed and pulled him into a hug again. And as he felt Edward's arms move up to encircle his back, Alfons realized that the difference between him and Edward, when it comes right down to it, was just skin deep. In his very core, he was just as vulnerably human as Alfons was and that being said, if he dare say so...maybe Edward felt as much for Alfons as Alfons did for him.

'_Oh dammit, I don't even care anymore…I think I love you… I love you.'_ Alfons thought to himself with a small smile. However, he still couldn't find it in himself to admit it out loud so instead, he tightened his hold on Edward and inched closer so that the only way he could get any closer is if he climbed onto Edward's lap. He pretended that the action was him saying it and he pretended that Edward gently burying his fingers in his short blond hair was him saying it back.

* * *

Christmas evening in the Grumman household ended with a mini photo shoot courtesy of Uncle Alex and his trusty DSLR camera. He was too busy with Alfons and helping prepare dinner earlier that he only got to pull it out to snap some pictures a few times. So before the night ended and he had to go back to the hotel he was staying at, he seized the chance and pulled it out to snap as many pictures as he could.

Perhaps it was because despite his personality, Uncle Alex was one hell of an intimidating man, or perhaps everyone was just in a good mood but they all cooperated willingly as Uncle Alex arranged them in different poses all over the house to take their pictures.

"Ok, one last picture. Alfons and you Mr. Elric, can the two of you please stand right over…there?" Uncle Alex asked, pointing at the spot where the grouted tiles near the front door met the carpet of the living room.

"Sure." Alfons said as he and Edward obediently went over and stood to the spot he had pointed.

They were all gathered near the front door now, everyone except for Alfons and Grandpa Grumman was either putting on their coat or already bundled up and ready to go and they all watched absently as Uncle Alex prepared to snap the last picture.

The tall blond man carefully held the camera up in front of his face and frowned.

"Could the two of you at least _try _to look like you're actually together?" he asked.

Alfons' eyes widened and simultaneously, he and Edward both turned their heads to share a look.

All the adults around them laughed.

"Oh don't be shy, go on, hold hands, hug, kiss, we don't mind." Hohenheim encouraged with a smile and a wave of his hand.

Alfons blushed, feeling extremely uncomfortable about being encouraged to kiss Edward in front of both their families. Beside him, Edward flinched in irritation at his father and before he could attempt to harm him in any way, Alfons grabbed his hand and pulled him a bit closer. Edward turned to him, his expression still irritated and Alfons raised his eyebrows and offered him a small 'just ignore them' half smile.

And almost as if by it's own accord, a second after he saw those wide azure eyes that could outdo the sky any day, Edward felt all the annoyance in his system simply fade away.

Then a bright flash suddenly turned the entire world temporarily white and Edward cringed as the vibrant light attacked his inhumanly sensitive eyes.

"Good. Perfect, thank you." Uncle Alex said as he fiddled with the controls of his camera.

Edward blinked a few times in rapid succession and Alfons laid a hand on his shoulder in concern.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah…damn, that flash was bright." Edward muttered, looking up at him while blinking two more times.

Alfons just smiled half in apology and half in amusement and the way his eyes scrunched up as he did so, made Edward feel things he would rather stick needles into his mouth than admit.

"Thanks for coming over by the way, really, we really appreciated having you guys here." Alfons said.

Edward shrugged. "No problem. Hohenheim needed to get out and socialize anyway, it makes him less suicidingly annoying."

Alfons laughed and Edward internally smiled at the sound.

"Right." Alfons said, turning his head to look when Riza called out a goodbye to him. He waved as she and her family walked out the door then he turned to Edward.

"You're going now I suppose." He said, eyeing Hohenheim as he stood next to the open door, waiting for Edward.

"Yeah." Edward replied. "It's been fun. You should come over to our house on New Year's eve."

Alfons smiled. "I'll try to convince Grandpa."

Edward nodded. "Ok, well…see ya… I guess." He muttered, suddenly feeling awkward as he smothered the urge to do something sappy like pull him into a hug or kiss him on the cheek. He turned his gaze to the floor and that was why he almost jumped in surprise when he felt something soft and warm press gently against his lips.

Alfons pulled back with a smile and a very faint blush, probably from knowing he had just kissed Edward in front of his grand father and his uncle.

"See you."

Edward allowed the small smile that automatically spread across his lips and he nodded.

On the way home, he stared out the window of Hohenheim's black Sedan, feeling strangely uplifted and at ease, almost happy. It was a total contrast to how he's been feeling the past few days and he even found himself wondering if he should be appalled that he was in a good mood despite Alfons' worsening condition and the still impending confrontation between him and his 7 mortal enemies that's been waiting for years to happen.

"I got you a present by the way." Hohenheim said casually, not taking his eyes off the road.

Edward snorted. "Whatever it is, I don't want it."

"Aww, don't be too quick to judge. I actually think that you'd like it. Of course, if you still refuse to accept it, I can always just put it on display on my desk in the hospital for everyone to see. Just so you know, you probably wouldn't be too happy if I do that." Hohenheim said mysteriously.

Edward raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything.

"…Alright I'll bite, what the hell is it?" Edward asked after a minute.

Hohenheim smiled. "It's in the compartment."

Edward looked at his father warily as he opened up the glove compartment and pulled out the small rectangular thing wrapped in thick, white wrapping paper. Edward wasted no time and ripped off the wrapping paper in one quick movement.

He raised an eyebrow when he was greeted with the sight of himself and Alfons, standing in the doorway of Hohenheim's office, looking like they were in mid conversation and oblivious to the camera until the very split second that the flash went off. The picture was framed by a simple black picture frame and Edward frowned at it as he turned it over in his hand.

"Ok, now I'm glad I asked." Edward muttered, making a mental note to hide it in the trusty safe in his closet just in case Hohenheim decides to steal it back and put it on his desk anyway.

"I have two more copies in case you want to give one to Alfons." Hohenheim said.

Edward's only answer was a scoff.

They pulled up in front of the house then and Edward leant absently against the car door as Hohenheim fished out his key and they waited for the garage door to open.

The white garage door slowly began to slide up and shortly after it did, two sets of identical ocher eyes widened in alarm and before another second could pass, they were out of the car and scanning the vast, empty darkness around them with narrowed eyes.

They looked for any signs of intruders as they approached the now open garage and Edward stood defensively over Hohenheim while the older blonde slowly sunk to his knees to examine the person left carelessly in front of their garage, bleeding heavily from a deep wound on his neck.

"He's dead." Hohenheim commented after checking the person's pulse.

Edward scanned the darkness one more time before crouching down next to Hohenheim. He looked up at the open garage door and frowned at the bit of blood smeared on the bottom.

"Edward," Hohenheim, sounding more serious than he had been in decades.

The corpse was lying down on his stomach and Hohenheim carefully flipped it over so that it was lying on it's back.

Edward's eyes widened.

The corpse was that of a boy, he was around 17 and he was slender and pale. His hair was cut short and it looked like it's just been recently dyed to a pale blond color and the thing that surprised Edward the most were his eyes, they were gruesomely forced open by what looked like clear tape and staples and they were a stunning, azure blue.

Almost as bright as the sky.

Just like the eyes he had looked into just a few minutes ago.

He and Hohenheim shared a grim look and Edward saw the alarm and fear in his face, reflected right back at him through Hohenheim's glasses. The similarities were not lost on either of them and it sent a small spark of trepidation down Edward's spine as he realized,

They really were here.

They were here and they were well aware of who Alfons was.

* * *

**TBC**

I'm planning to write a one shot set in this universe and I'm trying to choose between two ideas at the moment. I made a poll for it, it's in my profile and if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to know what you think I should write.

Here are the choices:

A christmas one shot to be posted on Decmeber ^^, depicting ALL the events during christmas in the Grumman household, from the time Major Armstrong landed in Stratford to the end of christmas dinner

and

A oneshot set in 1992, when Edward met Alfons for the very first time...in his mommy's tummy. Yep, the elevator incident that traumatized Edward for life ^^

Go to my profile to vote, votes and reviews would be greatly appreciated.

THANK YOU for reading everybody ^^


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